Princess Gwenevere
by Ryan T. Morris
Summary: Princess Gwenevere is the daughter of King George, the sister of Prince Charming and the leader of an elite group of young women called the Jewel Riders. But, when the Dark Curse sweeps through the Enchanted Forest, Gwen and her friends are taken along to Storybrooke, Maine with everyone else and become teachers at Storybrooke Elementary.
1. Once Upon a Time

**AN: Hey there folks! Welcome to my latest attempt at another** _ **Once Upon a Time**_ **Fan Fiction. I know I have several started and I might finish them one day but I got this idea a few days ago and I had to run with it I hope you enjoy. This story is partially based on the mid 90s cartoon** _ **Princess Gwenevere and The Jewel Riders.**_

 **If you are unfamiliar with this show, it followed the quest of a young princess of Avalon, Gwenevere, and her friends, Fallon and Tamara, to find and secure the scattered enchanted jewels to stop the evil sorceress Lady Kale from taking over the kingdom, restore harmony in magic, and bring the banished Merlin home.**

 **While I won't be following the premise of the original show. I will be using the characters of Gwenevere, Fallon and Tamara and bringing them to the world of** _ **Once Upon a Time.**_

 **If you want to know more about the show, I'll put a link up to a great website called Jewel Riders Archive on my profile page.**

 **Disclaimer:** _ **Once Upon a Time**_ **is the property of Kitsis/Horowitz Productions, ABC Studios and The Walt Disney Company.** _ **Princess Gwenevere and The Jewel Riders**_ **is the property of New Frontier Entertainment. No clam of ownership intended.**

 **List of New Characters:**

 **Gwenevere/Starla Butler: Charlize Theron  
Fallon/Alexandra Johnson: Freema Agyeman  
Tamara (pronounced Tam-a-ra)/Melody Hart: Amy Adams**

 **And now** _ **Princess Gwenevere!**_

Once Upon a Time

 _The Enchanted Forest  
Many Years Ago_

Princess Gwenevere and her two fellow Jewel Riders, Fallon and Tamara were on horseback riding across a long land bridge following Gwenevere's younger brother, James. The Jewel Riders had once been loyal protectors of King George's kingdom. They each had a powerful Enchanted Jewel. Gwen had the Sun Stone, Fallon had the Moon Stone and Tamera had the Heart Stone. But, when George turned on his son and tried to keep him apart from the woman he loved, Gwen and her friends joined her brother to help him find Snow White.

When they found The Seven Dwarves, snow started to fall. They climbed off their horses and walked over to them. They were standing around a glass coffin carved out of a fallen tree. The Dwarves turned and looked at the four humans walking toward them. Doc said, "You're too late."

Doc stepped aside and they saw Snow White lying inside the coffin. The four humans stepped forward. Gwen put hand on her brother's shoulder. "I'm sorry, James," she said.

"No," said James, "No!" He stepped closer and looked down at Snow. "Open it."

"I'm sorry," said Grumpy, "she's gone."

He looked up at the dwarves, "At least let me say goodbye."

The dwarves looked at each other and they silently agreed. They carefully lifted the lid off the casket. Gwen, Fallon and Tamera stood there with tears in their eyes as they watched James lean forward and kiss Snow on the lips. A few seconds later, a pulse of magic spread out from their lips across the Enchanted Forest. Then, Snow gasped and woke up. She looked up at James. She called him Charming and said, "You… You found me." She reached up and touched his cheek.

Charming smiled, "Did you ever doubt I would?"

Snow sat up and said, "Truthfully, the glass coffin gave me pause."

"Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you."

"Do you promise?"

Sometime later at Snow and Charming's wedding he looked at Snow and said, "I do."

"And do you, Snow White, promise to take this man to be your husband, and love him for all eternity?" asked the priest.

"I do," said Snow.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Everyone applauded. Gwen smiled as she watched her younger brother marry his true love. She hoped one day to find love like that. Snow and Charming prepared to kiss when they heard the doors of the room fly open. They all turned and saw the Evil Queen standing in the door way. "Sorry I'm late," Then she started walking toward the couple a couple of guards tried to stop her but she just used her magic to push them out of the way.

"It's the Queen, Run!" shouted Doc.

Gwen, Fallon and Tamara reached for their Enchanted Jewels and prepared to use them to protect Snow and Charming. They knew their magic was nowhere near as powerful as the Queen's magic but it would be enough of a distraction to allow everyone else escape.

Snow pulled out Charming's sword and pointed at the woman, "She's not the Queen anymore. She's nothing more than an evil witch."

"No, no, no," said Charming, "Don't stoop to their level. There's no need." He took the sword from Snow as Gwen, Fallon and Tamera stepped forward.

"You're wasting your time, Regina," said Tamara.

"You've already lost," said Fallon.

"And we will not let you ruin this wedding," said Gwen.

"Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything," said The Evil Queen, "On the contrary, dear, I've come to give the happy couple a gift."

"We want nothing from you," said Snow.

"But you shall have it!" The Evil Queen turned and started to pace and looked around at the crowd. "My gift to you is this happy, happy day." She stopped and looked at Snow and Charming, "But tomorrow, my real work begins. You've made your vows, now I make mine. Soon, everything you love," she looked around at the crowd, "everything all of you love, will be taken from you. Forever." She looked back at Snow and Charming, "And out of your suffering, will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do."

Then, The Evil Queen turned and walked to the door. Then, Charming called after her, "Hey!" She turned and Charming threw his sword at her but the woman just disappeared and cloud of purple smoke. The Jewel Riders looked at each other and they knew they hadn't heard the last of the Evil Queen.

* * *

Several months later, Charming and Gwen walked into what would soon be the nursery for Snow and Charming's baby. Snow was standing at the door to the balcony. A bluebird was sitting on her fingers then it flew away. Charming walked up to his wife, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," said Snow.

"You're thinking about what the Queen said again, aren't you?" asked Charming, "Snow, please. I can't keep having this conversation. You have to let it go. We're about to have a baby."

Snow walked into the room and over to the crib, "I haven't had a restful night since our wedding."

"That's what she wants," said Gwen, "She wants to get in your head. But you know that she can't either of you."

Snow looked at her sister-in-law, "She poisoned an apple because she thought I was prettier than her. You have no idea of what she's capable of."

"What can I do to ease your mind?" asked Charming.

"Let me talk to him," said Snow.

"Him?" asked Charming.

Gwen's eyes went wide, "You don't mean…"

"I do," said Snow.

"No, no, no. It's too dangerous," said Charming.

"He sees the future," said Snow.

"I agree with James," said Gwen, "There's a reason he's locked up."

Snow looked at Charming and Gwen, "Can either of you promise me that my child will be safe? Can either of you guarantee it? Because he can."

Charming and Gwen looked at each other. They knew it was pointless to fight. Charming looked at Snow, "Alright. For our child."

* * *

A short time later, Snow, Charming, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera were being led to the dungeon where The Dark One, Rumplestiltskin was being kept. They were wearing hooded robes to hide their faces from him. "When we reach the cell, stay out of the light," instructed the guard, "And whatever you do, do not let him know your name. If he knows your name, he will have power over you." They reached his cell, and the guard said, "Rumpelstiltskin. Rumpelstiltskin! I have a question for you.

Rumpelstiltskin stepped up to the bars and said, "No, you don't. They do. Snow White, Prince Charming, Princess Gwenevere, Lady Tamara and Lady Fallon." Rumple laughed then he said, "You insult me. Step into the light and take off those ridiculous robes." They lowered the hoods and stepped forward, "That's much better."

"We've come to ask you about the…" Charming started to ask.

"Yes! Yes! I know why you're here!" shouted Rumple, "You want to know about the Queen's threat."

"Tell us what you know," asked Snow.

"Ooh, tense, aren't we? Fear not! For I can ease your mind. But… It's going to cost you something in return."

"No!" said Charming, "This is a waste of time."

"What do you want?" asked Snow.

"Oh… The name of your unborn child?" asked Rumple.

"Absolutely not!" said Charming.

"Deal!" said Snow, "What do you know?"

"The Queen has created a powerful curse," said Rumple, "And it's coming. Soon, you'll all be in a prison. Just like me, only worse. Your prison, all of our prisons, will be time. Time will stop, and we will be trapped. Someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, everything we love, will be ripped from us while we suffer for all eternity. While the Queen celebrates, victorious at last. No more happy endings."

"What can we do?" asked Gwen.

"We can't do anything."

"Who can?" asked Tamera.

Rumplestiltskin pointed at Show, "That little thing, growing inside her belly." He reached out to touch Snow. Fallon pulled her sword and slashed Rumples hand away.

"Next time, I cut it off," said Fallon.

"Tsk tsk," said Rumple, "The infant is our only hope. Get the child to safety. Get the child to safety and on its twenty-eighth birthday, the child will return. The child will find you and The Final Battle will begin."

"We heard enough," said Charming, "We're leaving." The five of them turned to leave.

Rumple shouted it, "Hey! No! We made a deal! I want her name! We had a deal! I need her name! I want her name!"

"Her?" said Charming as he looked back, "It's a boy."

"Missy… Missy…" called Rumple, "You know I'm right. Tell me, what's her name?"

Snow turned toward The Dark One, "Emma. Her name is Emma."

Rumplestiltskin smiled, "Emma…"

* * *

Later, Charming and Snow had called a meeting with their friends to tell them what happened, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon were there along with Geppetto, Red Riding Hood and her Granny, three of the Seven Dwarves and Jiminy Cricket. Charming pounded his fist on the table and stood, "I say we fight!"

"Fighting is a bad idea," said Jiminy, through a translating megaphone, "Giving into one's dark side never accomplishes anything."

"And how many wars has a clear conscience won?" asked Fallon, "I agree with James. We need to take the Queen out before she can inflict her curse."

"Can we even trust Rumpelstiltskin?" asked Doc.

"I've gone into the forest," said Tamera. Her Heart Stone allowed her to speak with animals, "The animals are abuzz with the Queen's plan. This is going to happen unless we do something."

"There's no point," said Snow, "The future is written."

"No," said Gwen, "I refuse to believe that. Good can't just lose."

"Maybe it can."

"No," said Charming, he knelt next to her, "No, not as long as we have each other. If you believe him about the curse, then you must believe him about our child. She will be the Savior."

Just then doors to the room opened. A group of guards walked in pulling a large piece of a tree behind them. The Blue Fairy was with them, "What the hell is this?" asked Charming.

"Our only hope of saving that child," said the Blue Fairy as she flew to the center of the table.

"A tree?" asked Grumpy, "Our fate rests on a tree? Let's get back to the fighting thing."

"The tree is enchanted," said The Blue Fairy, "If fashioned into a vessel, it can ward off any curse." She turned toward Geppetto and asked, "Geppetto, can you build such a thing?"

"Me and my boy," said Geppetto who touched Pinocchio's head as the boy sat on the floor sanding a whale he had carved, "we can do it."

The Blue Fairy turned to Snow and Charming, "This will work. We all must have faith." Snow took Charming's hand and the Blue Fairy continued, "There is, however, a catch. The enchantment is, indeed, powerful, but all power has its limits. And this tree can protect only one." Snow and Charming looked at each other.

* * *

Geppetto and Pinocchio started to work on the wardrobe in Emma's nursery, and several days later, they were almost finished. Gwen, Fallon and Tamera were standing in the guard tower with Grumpy. Gwen looked toward the forest and saw birds frantically flying over the nearby mountains Then, dark smoke floated over the mountains and started to move toward the castle. "Fallon… Tamera," said Gwen, "Look." Her fellow Jewel Riders and Grumpy joined her and saw the smoke coming toward them.

"The curse!" said Grumpy as he rushed to the bell, in the middle of the guard tower, "It's here!" he shouted as he started to ring it.

Fallon looked at the road that led from the castle to the forest. She saw something coming down the road. She took out some binoculars and looked at the object. She saw a black carriage with knights in black armor, riding around it, "It's the Evil Queen…. She's coming," said Fallon.

"She must be coming for Emma," said Tamera.

Gwen clenched her fist, "Come on… we have to get to Snow and James before the Queen gets here."

The three women to Snow and Charming's room and found Snow getting ready to give birth. "I can't have this baby now!" she shouted

"Doc, do something," said Charming, as he tried to comfort her, "It's going to be okay. The wardrobe is almost finished, just hold on."

A few moments later Geppetto walked in and said, "It's ready."

Charming went to pick up Snow but Doc stopped her, "It's too late. We can't move her."

Shortly after that Emma was born. The Jewel Riders stood there and smiled as they watched their prince and princess hold the newborn in a blanket that Granny had made. Just then Snow had a realization, "The wardrobe… It only takes one."

The adults in the room heard the fighting outside between their guards and the Queen's guards. "Then our plan has failed," said Charming, "At least we're together."

Snow looked at Emma for a few moments then said without taking her eyes off her child, "No. You have to take her. Take the baby to the wardrobe."

"Are you out of your mind?"

"No, it's the only way. You have to send her through."

"No, no, no. You don't know what you're saying."

"No, I do. We have to believe that she'll come back for us. We have to give Emma her best chance." Charming knew Snow was right. He kissed Emma on the forehead. Then Snow said, "Goodbye, Emma…" Then she kissed Emma on the forehead. Charming took Emma and then he kissed his wife.

Gwen looked at her friends, "Fallon, Tamera… Stay here with Snow… I'm going with James."

The two women nodded. Charming grabbed his sword. Then gave his wife a final look. Then Charming and James left. The moment they were out of sight Snow started to break down. Fallon and Tamera did their best to comfort her.

As they were heading to the nursery, they ran into two of the Queen's guards Gwen pulled her sword and said to her brother, "Get Emma to the nursery." Charming nodded and Gwen did her best to run interference. It took her longer than she wanted to but once both of the Queen's guards were taken care of she rushed to the nursery.

When she got there here heart sank, her brother was on the floor, dead. She looked over at the wardrobe that was supposed to protect her niece. The doors were open and was empty. She went to her brother's side and knelt beside him. She put his head in her lap and started to cry. Then she heard a voice say, "No, no!" She turned and saw Snow along with Tamera and Fallon. They helped her walk over to Charming's side, "No! No! No!" She knelt on the other side of Charming, "Please… Please come back to me."

She tried kissing him but nothing happened, "Snow…" said Gwen, "It's too late… He's gone…"

Just then The Evil Queen walked in, "Oh, don't worry dear. In a few moments, you won't remember you knew him, let alone loved him."

"Why did you do this?" asked Snow.

"Because this is my happy ending…" said the Queen. Just then two of her guards walked in, "The child?"

"Gone," said one of the guards, "It was in the wardrobe, and then it was gone. It's nowhere to be found."

Snow, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon all looked at each other. The Queen looked at the other women, "Where is she?'

"She got away…" said Snow, "You're going to lose. I know that now. Good will always win."

"We'll see about that," said the Queen. The Queen started to laugh. The roof started to break away and the smoke of the curse entered the room and started to surround them.

"Where are we going?" asked Gwen.

"Somewhere horrible. Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine."

The windows of the room shattered and they were absorbed by The Dark Curse.

The entire population of The Enchanted Forest was sent to The World Without Magic. The Curse created a place called Storybrooke, Maine. It gave everyone new lives and new identities and it also blocked all of their memories of their past lives in The Enchanted Forest.

* * *

 _Storybrooke  
28 Years Later_

5th grade teacher, Starla Butler; PE teacher, Alexandra Johnson; and music teacher, Melody Hart were walking down the halls of Storybrooke Elementary on their way to the teachers' lounge. As they walked they saw 5th grade teacher, Mary Margaret Blanchard talking with a blond woman none of them had seen before. The blond walked away and three women walked up to Mary Margaret. Starla asked, "Who was that?"

Mary Margaret looked at her friends, "That was Henry Mills' birth mother. You guys know that book of fairy tales I gave him." The women all nodded. They were familiar with the book. Mary Margaret had shown the book to them before she gave it to Henry and they all had seen him with the book. Henry told them who he though they were. Starla was Princess Gwenevere. Alex was Fallon, Melody was Tamera, Mary Margaret was Snow White and Regina, Henry's adopted mother, was The Evil Queen.

Mary Margaret continued, "Well, he stole my credit card and used it to find that woman I was just talking to."

"I'm sure Regina wasn't too happy about that," said Alex.

"No," said Mary Margaret, "She and the woman I was talking to came to find Henry. I told her to try his castle."

Starla shook her head, "I hope things work out… Henry's such a nice boy…"

* * *

After school, Mary Margaret and Starla went to Storybrooke General Hospital where they volunteered. They would go to different rooms passing out flowers and spending time with the patients. Mary Margaret walked into the room of one comatose patient. He was a John Doe. But, in reality, it was Prince Charming.

 **AN: I know that Charming is David. But, if you all remember David was posing as James. So that's why I refer to him as James. So, The Pilot is done and I hope you all like it.** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	2. Snow Falls

**AN: This chapter combines "The Thing You Love Most" and "Snow Falls"**

Snow Falls

The next morning Starla was walking down Main Street on her way to Granny's to get some coffee before school. She was scared a little bit when she heard the bell on the clock tower above the library chime. She looked up at the clock and was surprised to see the minute hand move. She grabbed a copy of the _Storybrooke Daily Mirror_ out of a paper box and looked at the front page.

On the front page was a big picture of the woman that she saw talking to Mary Margaret the day before. The headline read: Stranger Destroys Historic Sign. Alcohol Involved. Starla glanced at the article. The woman's name was Emma Swan and she crashed into the Welcome to Storybrooke sign on the town line after apparently seeing a wolf standing in the road.

Later that morning, Starla was standing front of the school with Mary Margaret, Alex and Melody talking and watching students arrive. They heard Henry Mills call out, "I knew you'd believe me!"

They turned and saw him running up to the school, Emma Swan was right behind him and she called out to him, "I never said I did."

"Why else would you be here?" said Henry, as he ran to the school.

The four teachers went up to Emma and Mary Margaret said, "It's good to see his smile back."

"I didn't do anything," said Emma.

"You stayed," said Mary Margaret, "These are my friends, Starla Butler, fellow 5th grade teacher. Alex Johnson, gym teacher. And, Melody Hart, music teacher." Emma nodded at each woman. Then Mary Margaret asked, "So, does the Mayor know you're still here?"

"Oh, she knows. What is her deal? She's not a great people person. How did she get elected?"

"She's been mayor for as long as I can remember," said Starla.

"No one's ever been brave enough to run against her.," said Alex.

"She inspires quite a bit of, well, fear," said Melody.

"I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book," said Mary Margaret, "Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."

"Who does he think you guys are?" asked Emma.

"Oh, it's silly," said Starla with a laugh.

"I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me."

"Well," said Starla, "He thinks that Alex, Melody and I are Princess Gwenevere and The Jewel Riders."

"What?" asked Emma with a bit of a laugh, "From that cartoon in the 90s?"

"Yeah, apparently Princess Gwenevere is Prince Charming's sister."

Emma looked at Mary Margaret, "How about you?"

"Snow White," answered Mary Margaret, "Who does he think you are?"

"I'm not in the book. Can I ask you a favor? Regina mentioned the kid's in therapy. Do you know where I could find the doctor?"

"His office is just across from Granny's" said Melody.

"Thanks," said Emma, "Nice to meet all of you." Then she left.

* * *

A few days later, Starla and Mary Margaret were at the hospital with their classes. As their students visited with the patients and put up decorations, Starla said to Mary Margaret, "So… How did your date with Dr. Whale go?"

Mary Margaret sighed, "About the same as usual."

Starla put a hand on her friend's shoulder. As far as she could remember, Mary Margaret was unlucky with love, "You'll find the one someday." Mary Margaret smiled. Starla smiled back and looked over at John Doe's room. She saw Henry in there. "Come on…"

Starla and Mary Margaret walked in just as Henry was about to touch his face, "Henry," said Mary Margaret, "We could really use your help with the decorations."

"Is Mr. Doe going to be okay, Miss Blanchard?" asked Henry.

"His name's not John Doe," said Starla, "That's just what they call people when they don't know who they are."

"Do you two know who he is?"

"Nope," said Mary Margaret, "We just bring him flowers on our rounds."

"What's wrong with him?" asked Henry.

"I don't know," said Starla, "He's been like this as long as Miss Blanchard and I've been volunteering."

"Does he have any family or friends?"

"No one's claimed him," said Mary Margaret.

"So, he's all alone," said Henry.

"Yeah… It's quite sad."

"You sure you two don't know him?"

"Course I'm sure," said Starla, "Come on. You shouldn't be in here."

Then they walked out of the room.

* * *

That night, Starla was walking out of the hospital and saw Mary Margaret walking toward it, holding a book, "Mary Margaret?" asked Starla. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh Well. According to Emma, Henry thinks John Doe is Prince Charming."

"Really?" said Starla, "Well that would make him my brother... Which is odd because I don't have a brother."

"Anyway, Emma told me that Henry thinks that if I read to him from the book it would help John remember who is was."

"What does Emma think?"

"Emma wants me to play along so we can show him that fairy tales aren't real."

Starla nodded, "As sad as it sounds… that's a pretty good plan. Henry needs to know the truth and this way he doesn't get hurt."

"That was my thought… So, I'm going to read to him then report back to Emma and Henry tomorrow morning at Granny's."

"Do you think Emma and Henry would mind if I come too?" asked Starla, "After all he's supposed to be my brother."

"No… I don't think they would mind."

"Great," said Starla, "See you tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning, Starla walked into Granny's and saw Emma and Henry sitting across from each other. She walked up to them and said, "Hi… Do you guys mind if I join you? I ran into Mary Margaret, outside the hospital last night and she told me about your plan."

"Sure," said Henry, "That's fine." Starla sat down next to Emma. Just then, Henry saw Mary Margaret walk in.

Emma and Starla turned and saw Mary Margaret at the door of the diner. They turned and looked back at Henry and Emma said, "Hey, don't get your hopes up. We're just getting started, okay?"

Mary Margaret sat down at the table next to Henry and said, "He woke up."

"What?" asked Emma and Starla.

Henry smiled, "I knew it."

"I mean, he didn't 'wake up' wake up, but he grabbed my hand," said Mary Margaret.

"He's remembering!"

"What did Dr. Whale say?" asked Starla.

"That I imagined it, but I'm not crazy," said Mary Margaret, "I know it happened."

"We have to go back," said Henry, "You have to read to him again."

Mary Margaret thought for a second then she said, "Let's go."

Henry and Mary Margaret jumped up and headed for the door before Emma and Starla realized what was going on, "Wait, wait what?" said Emma.

Emma and Starla stood up then, Mary Margaret said, "If I got through to him, if we made a connection..."

"You don't believe…" Starla started to say.

"That he's Prince Charming?" finished Mary Margaret, "Of course not. Somehow, some way, I touched him."

* * *

They got to the hospital and when they got close to John Doe's room they saw Dr. Whale and some nurses in his room. "You're right. he's waking up." said Henry.

They were almost to John Doe's room when they saw Graham, Sheriff of Storybrooke. He turned and faced them, "Henry, you should stay back."

"What's going on?" asked Starla.

"Is it John Doe?" asked Mary Margaret, "Is he okay?"

"He's missing," said Graham.

Just then they saw Regina was in John Doe's room and she saw them. She stormed out of the room and said, "What the hell are you doing here?" She looked at Henry, "And you," she grabbed his arm, pulled him close to her, kelt down to look him in the eyes, "I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me?"

"What happened to John Doe?" asked Mary Margaret, "Did someone take him?"

"We don't know yet," said Graham, "His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle."

"What did you do?" asked Henry.

"You think I had something to do with this?" asked Regina.

"It is curious that the mayor is here," said Emma.

"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact."

"You know him?" asked Starla.

"I found him," said Regina, "On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here."

"Mayor Mills saved his life," said Dr. Whale as he walked over.

"Will he be okay?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Okay? The man's been on feeding tubes for years, under constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, 'okay' might be a pipe dream."

"Well then, let's quit yapping and start looking," said Emma, as she turned and took a few steps away.

"That's what we're doing," said Regina. Emma stopped and looked back at the mayor. Then, Regina continued. "Just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you." She and Henry started to leave. When they reached Emma, Regina stopped and said to her, "Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting." Regina looked at Graham, "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious." Then Regina and Henry left.

"Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?" asked Graham.

"Twelve hours or so," said Dr. Whale.

"Then that's what we need to account for."

* * *

Graham, Emma, Starla and Mary Margaret went to the security room. Walter, the hospital security guard, and Leroy, the hospital janitor, were both there, "You two were the only employees on the floor last night. And you saw nothing?" asked Graham.

"Not a thing." said Walter.

"Did anyone walk by?" Emma asked.

"I didn't see nothin'," said Leroy.

"Miss Blanchard, Miss Butler was there anything unusual either of you saw during your trip with your class?" asked Graham.

"I don't think so," said Mary Margaret.

"No," said Starla.

Emma walked up to the monitor, "We're looking at the wrong tape. This is the ward where Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."

"Tch, you fell asleep again," said Leroy.

"You selling me out?" asked Walter.

"I ain't getting fired for this."

"At least I don't drink on the job."

"Gentlemen, enough. Where's the real tape?" asked Graham.

They tape was switched they watched John Doe get up and walk out the door, "He walked out alone. He's okay." said Mary Margaret.

"Four hours ago. Where does this door lead?" asked Emma.

"The woods," said Leroy.

* * *

Emma, Starla, Graham and Mary Margaret headed to the woods and started to search for John Doe. They walked for awhile then Graham stopped and knelt down, "What is it?" asked Starla.

"The trail runs out here," he said.

"You sure?" asked Emma Because I thought tracking was one of your skills."

"Just give me a second," said Graham, "This is my world. I got it." Graham then went ahead.

"Right. Sorry."

"What does he mean, 'His world'?" asked Mary Margaret, "Isn't finding people your thing, too?"

"Sure. Just, people I find usually run to places like Vegas. Not a lot hit the woods."

"That's an interesting job – finding people," said Starla, "How'd you fall into it?"

"Looking for people is just what I've done," said Emma, "As long as I can remember."

"What made you start?" asked Mary Margaret, "Your parents? Henry told me that your… Th-that you were from a similar situation to his own. Did you ever find them?"

"Depends who you ask," said Emma. Just then they heard a crack behind them. They turn around and saw Henry run down a hill.

"Henry!" said Starla.

"Did you find him yet?" asked Henry.

"No, not yet," said Emma, "You shouldn't be here."

"I can help. I know where he's going."

"And where's that?" asked Mary Margaret.

Henry looked at Mary Margaret, "He's looking for you."

* * *

They started to walking through the woods. It was getting dark so they all had flashlights. Then, Henry said, "You're the one who woke him up. You're the last one he saw. He wants to find you!"

"Henry, it's not about me," said Mary Margaret, "I just… I think he's lost and confused. He's been in a coma a long time."

"But he loves you! You need to stop chasing him, and let him find you."

"Kid. You need to go home. Where's your mom?" asked Emma, "She's going to kill me and then you… and then me again."

"She dropped me at the house," said Henry, "Then, went right out."

"Well, we need to get you back immediately."

"No!"

"Guys!" they heard Graham call. They caught up to him and he shown his flashlight on John Doe's hospital bracelet.

"Is that…" Starla started to ask.

"Blood," Emma finished.

* * *

They continued to search the woods. They followed the path to a stream that ran under a near by bridge, "Where is he?" asked Starla, "Can you see him?"

"The trail dies at the water line," said Graham

They all moved their flashlights around the water's edge. Then, the light from Mary Margaret's light landed on John Doe lying in the water, "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Graham pulled out his walkie talkie and said, "I need an ambulance! At the old Toll Bridge, as soon as possible." Emma, Starla, Graham and Mary Margaret drug John Doe onto the shore.

"No, no, no, no, no! No, no, no! I found you!" shouted Mary Margaret.

"It's going to be okay," said Starla.

"Help's coming," said Graham

"Is he okay?" asked Henry.

"Henry…" said Emma.

"Is he going to be okay?"

Emma went up to Henry. She hugged him and turned him away from what was going on, "Henry, don't look. Okay? Don't look."

"Come back to us," said Mary Margaret. Then she whispered, "Come back to me." She couldn't wait any longer. So she started to do CPR. She pumped his chest a few times then breathed into his mouth. A few seconds later, he started to breath and coughed of water.

John Doe looked up at Mary Margaret and said, "You saved me."

"She did it," said Henry, "She did it! She woke him up."

"Yeah, kid. She did," said Emma looking a bit shocked.

"Thank you," said John.

"Who are you?" asked Mary Margaret.

"I don't know."

"It's okay. You're going to be okay." The group could hear the sirens of the ambulance.

* * *

They got to the hospital and John Doe was taken to a ER Room, "We got it from here," said Dr. Whale. Mary Margaret, Henry, Emma, Starla and Graham watched through a glass door as John was being treated.

Just then, a blond haired woman rushed in and burst into the room, "David! David, is that you?" asked the woman.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" said Dr. Whale.

"Oh my god…"

"Ma'am, you can't be in here. Please, you can't be here right now."

"David…"

"You can't be here, ma'am. Can you wait over here for a second, okay?" the woman stepped to the side.

"Who is that?" asked Starla.

"His wife," said Regina's voice. The group turned and saw her standing there behind them, "His name is David Nolan. And that's his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face, well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood," she said as she looked at Emma and Travis. Regina then looked at Henry, "We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means?" he shook his head, "It means you're grounded."

Just then Kathryn waked out of the room, "Thank you. Thank you for finding my David."

"Um, I-I don't understand," said Mary Margaret, "You didn't…you didn't know that he was here in a coma?"

"A few years ago, David and I were not getting along. It was my fault, I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him if he didn't like things, he could leave. And he did. And I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made."

"You didn't go look for him?" asked Emma.

"I assumed he'd left town all this time," said Kathryn, "And now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever – say I'm sorry. Now we get a second chance."

"That's wonderful," said Mary Margaret.

Dr. Whale walked out of the room and said, "Well, it's something of a miracle."

"He's okay?" asked Kathryn.

"Ah, physically, he's on the mend, um, his memory is another issue. It may take time, if at all."

"What brought him back?" asked Mary Margaret.

"That's the thing," said Dr. Whale, "There's no explanation. Something just clicked in him."

"He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" asked Emma.

"He woke up and he was delirious and his first instinct was to go find something, I guess."

"Someone," said Henry.

"Can I see him?" asked Kathryn.

"Yeah, of course," said Dr. Whale as he escorted her into the room.

"Henry, let's go," said Regina.

Henry got up and started to follow her then he said, "Wait, my backpack." He grabbed his backpack then went up to Mary Margaret, "Don't believe them. You're the one he was looking for."

"Henry…" she said.

"He was going to the Troll Bridge. It's like the end of the story."

"Henry, he was going there because it's the last thing I read to him."

"No, it's because you belong together."

"Henry," called Regina. Then she went up to him and they left.

A few moments later, Emma followed them. Starla looked as David and Kathryn hugged in his room. Something about this just didn't seem right to her. She turned and saw Mary Margaret play with the ring she always wore. Starla put her hand around her friend's shoulder in comfort and they left.

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	3. That Still Small Voice

**AN: This chapter took a little longer than I thought. I've been busy with other things. But, I hope it was worth the wait. Now, on with the show…**

That Still Small Voice

A few nights later, there had been some changes in Storybrooke. Emma decided that the best place for Henry was her was to stay in Storybrooke, so she accepted an offer from Mary Margaret for a place the stay and an offer from Graham to be his deputy.

Starla, Alex and Melody were heading to Granny's to have dinner together when they heard a loud explosion. They looked at each other and headed to where the noise came from. There was an old mine just outside of downtown. A lot of people were gathered there as the three teachers arrived. They looked in the hole where the mine was and saw smoke coming out of the entrance to the mine. Soon, Graham and Emma arrived in the patrol car along with fire trucks. Regina arrived moments later and said, "Everyone! Step back, please!" as she got out of her car.

"Is that a crater?" asked Ruby.

"No, there were tunnels – old mines," said Marco, "Something collapsed."

Regina walked up to the hole and looked at Graham, "Sheriff, set up a police perimeter," She looked at Marco and said, "Marco, why don't you help with the fire department?" Regina saw Emma and said, "Miss Swan, this is now official town business. You're free to go."

"Well, actually, I work for the town now," said Emma.

Regina gave Graham a look, "She's my new deputy," he said.

"They say the mayor's always last to know," said Regina.

"It's in my budget."

"Indeed," she gave Graham another look, and then looked at Emma, "Deputy, why don't you make yourself useful and help with crowd control?" Emma then headed to the patrol car. Regina then spoke to the crowd, "People of Storybrooke, don't be alarmed. We've always known this area was honeycombed with old mining tunnels, but fear not. I'm going to undertake a project to make this area safe, to rehabilitate it to city use. We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it."

"Pave it?" asked Henry, "What if there's something down there?"

"Henry, what are you doing here?" whispered Regina.

"What's down there?" whispered Henry.

"Nothing. Now step back," Regina looked up at the rest of the crowd as Emma returned with a roll of police tape "In fact everyone please, please step back. Thank you."

Starla, Alex and Melody decided there was nothing else for them to see so they headed to Granny's

* * *

The next day, Mary Margaret, Emma and Starla were at the loft. Mary Margaret was making a s'more and told them about how she spent time at the Hospital talking with David Nolan and about she was having feelings for him. "I am the worst person in the world." she said.

"Really? In the whole world?" asked Emma.

"Trust me, Mare," said Starla, "You are not even in the top 1,000."

"If Kathryn was horrible, it would be easier, but she's so nice," said Mary Margaret.

"What would be easier?" asked Starla, with a smile.

"Nothing."

"Nothing's a good idea," said Emma, "You're smart. You know not to get involved with a married guy. It's not worth the heartache. Trust me." Just then there was a knock on the door, "I'll get it." She opened the door and saw Henry there sobbing, "Kid? What happened? Come in."

"I was having a session with Archie," said Henry, "And he told me the curse wasn't real and that if he continued to believe it he would have to have me locked up."

"What?" said Starla.

"She's gone too far," said Emma, "Come on, Kid..." She grabbed her jacket.

"Where are you going?" asked Mary Margaret.

"To have a chat with the good doctor."

"Would you mind if I come too?" asked Starla, Archie was a good friend and she couldn't believe that he would let himself be manipulated by anyone.

"Sure, come on..."

* * *

Emma and Starla dropped Henry off at Regina's office then headed over to Archie's. They reached Archie's office and Emma started to pound on the door. "Archie! Archie!" Emma tried the door and found the door unlocked they went in and saw Archie and his dog, Pongo, "What did you do?" Emma asked, "You told me not to take the fantasy away. You told me it would devastate him."

"When a course of therapy stops working, you adjust it." said Archie.

"Is it her?" asked Emma, "Did she threaten you?"

Archie didn't say anything then Starla asked, "Archie... What could be strong enough to drown out your own conscience?"

"I do not need to defend my professional decisions to either of you, okay?" Archie snapped back.

Just then, Emma's cell phone rang she answered it and said, 'Hello, Madame Mayor. Nice work…Yes, I'm with Dr. Hopper, and guess what? You left your fingerprints all over him when you… I dropped Henry off at your office an hour ago… I don't know where he is…"

Archie sighed, "I do."

Archie, Emma and Starla headed to the front of the mine in Emma's Bug. They all started calling for him, "Henry! Henry!"

Pongo was sniffing around the front of the mine, "What you got there, Pongo?" asked Archie.

"I don't think he's here," said Starla, as she and Emma were standing near the top of the crater like area where the entrance to the mine was.

"I think he is," said Archie as he showed them what Pongo found, "Candy bar. He had these with him."

A few moments later the ground started to shake again, "Henry!" called Archie as he started to edge his way into the collapsed entrance to the mine.

"Archie!" called Starla as she and Emma started to make their way to the mine entrance.

"Henry! It's not safe!" called Archie as he went to the mine.

The ground shook again and front of the mine collapsed and Starla called out, "Archie?!"

Emma called out, "Henry?!"

Emma took out her phone and called Graham to let him know what was going on. A short time later, Regina, Graham, Marco, Ruby, Alex and Melody joined Emma and Starla at the mine. Regina was talking to some workers. Melody, Alex and Ruby were watching Pongo. Emma, Starla, Graham and Marco were watching as workers were moving debris away from the entrance to the mine, "Archie is smart," said Marco, "He'll keep the boy safe until we get to them." A few moments later the ground started to shake again, "Watch out!"

Regina ran toward the entrance, "Stop! Stop! You're making it worse."

"I am trying to save him," said Emma as she pulled the Mayor aside, "You know why he went in there in the first place, don't you? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove!"

"And why does he think he has anything to prove?" said Regina, "Who's encouraging him?"

"Do not put this on me," said Emma.

"Oh please. Lecture me until the oxygen has run out."

Starla stepped up and separated the two women, "Stop it! You two have to stop arguing. Archie and Henry's lives are at stake and you two fighting won't accomplish anything."

Emma and Regina looked at each other, "No, I suppose you're right," said Regina, "It won't."

"What do you want me to do?" Emma asked Regina.

"Help me," Emma nodded and Regina continued, "We need to find some way to punch through the ground. We need something big."

"Like what?"

"Explosives," said Marco.

The workers set up explosive charges at the entrance to the mine while everyone got back and ducked behind the cars that had surrounded the entrance to the mine "Okay, we're all clear," said Emma.

"Blow it," said Regina.

A work pressed a button and a cloud of dust came out of them mine as the explosion went off. A few moments later Emma ran into the cloud. She came out a few moments later and Regina asked, "Did it work?"

"It didn't open," said Emma.

"Then what did it do?" asked Graham.

Regina turned to the workers, "What was that? What the hell was that? You said you could do this."

Starla tried to calm her down, "Madame Mayor."

"They could've killed my son."

"I know. But this isn't helping."

"If we knew exactly where they were, we could drill down to them," said Marco. Just then, Pongo started barking. Emma looked and saw him sitting in a fire truck. She went over to the truck as Marco continued, "Maybe, maybe rig something to bring them back up."

"But drill where?" asked Graham.

Emma opened the fire truck's door and let Pongo out, "Come on buddy," she said.

"What are you thinking?" Regina asked Marco. Then, she noticed what Emma was doing.

"It's Archie's dog," said Emma. Pongo started to sniff the ground, "He's found something. Look, this is where they must be. What is it?"

Graham and Marco got down and removed a metal covering over metal grate, "What is that?" asked Starla.

"It's an air shaft," said Graham.

They pulled up a tow truck next to the air shaft grate. While Marco hooked the hook from the wench to the grate. Ruby sat behind the wheel to run the wench. A few moments later the grate was off. "Alright, we got it," said Emma.

Emma, Regina, Starla and Graham looked down the shaft, "So, what's next?" asked Regina.

Marco got the wench ready for the next part of the mission, "We need to lower someone straight down, or the line would collapse the sides of the shaft."

Graham returned with the harness, "I've got the harness."

"Lower me down," said Regina.

"Oh, no way. I'm going." said Emma.

"He's my son."

"He's my son too. You've been sitting behind your desk for ten years. I can do this."

"Just bring him to me," said Regina.

Graham helped Emma into the harness then Marco hooked the hardness to the hook of the wench. Then, Emma was lowered into the air shaft.

Starla, Alex and Harmony stood there, watched and waited for Emma to pull on the guideline to let them know to pull them up. It was tense for a few moments but then whole group cheered when Graham gave the order to pull Emma up.

Everyone cheered and clapped as Emma, Henry and Archie came out of the hole. Once Henry was clear of the hole. Regina hugged him and pulled him away. Graham and had to stop Emma from following because she was still in the harness. Once she was free Emma went over to Henry and Regina, "Are you okay, Henry?" asked Emma.

"Deputy, you can clear the crowd away," said Regina.

Henry was taken by the EMTs to get checked out. Starla looked at and watched as Regina went over to Archie and Marco, "Thank you, Dr. Hopper."

"I, uh, I have something to say." said Archie. Marco walked away and then Archie and Regina stepped aside. Starla couldn't hear what they were saying and a short time later, Archie walked away from the Mayor. As Archie walked away, Starla walked up to him. "Archie..."

"Oh... Starla... Hi... I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier. I was just under so much pressure."

"That's okay. I'm glad you're safe... So, what were you and Regina talking about?"

"Oh... Well, I told her that I'm not going to be intimidated by her anymore... I'm going to treat Henry how I see fit. I'm going to let my conscious be my guide."

Starla smiled, "Good. I'm glad that you came to your senses."

"Me too..." said Archie. Archie looked at Starla. For as long as he could remember he had a small crush on Starla. But, he'd been too afraid to ask her out. She was a good friend and didn't want to risk losing her as a friend if the relationship didn't out. But, with the confidence he gained by standing up to Regina he deiced to take a chance, "Starla... Would you like to go to dinner sometime?"

Starla was a little surprised by Archie's question. But, she had always liked him. She smiled, "I'd love to."

Archie smiled back, "Great..."

* * *

Emma, Starla, Alex, Harmony and Henry were sitting on the edge of the rise that over looked the mine entrance. Emma watched as Archie and Marco chatted happy, "Is Marco Archie's father?" asked Emma.

"No, they are just old friends," said Harmony.

Emma looked at Henry, "You really scared me."

"I'm sorry."

Archie and Marco walked up to the group sitting on the edge of the rise, "Gentleman," said Emma. Then she turned back to Henry, "Well, come on, your mom wants to take you home."

"Hey!" said Henry, "Listen!"

They all listened and they could hear crickets in the distance, "Crickets." said Archie.

"They are back," said Henry. Then Henry looked at Emma, "Things are changing."

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	4. The Shepherd

The Shepherd

 _The Enchanted Forest  
Many Years Ago_

Princess Gwenevere sat next to her father, King George, and watched as her younger brother, James fought against a very large man. The fight was a test for James. King George's kingdom was running low on gold and King Midas was looking for someone to slay a dragon.

Gwenevere smiled as her brother easily defended himself against the larger man. At one point the man shoved his very sharp spear into James' shield and used it to throw the prince over his head and throw him a few feet away. James didn't move. The man moved in for the death blow. He raised his spear and prepared to shove it into the prince. But, at the last moment, James moved out of the way, kicked the spear from the man's hands, slashed him across the chest, then stabbed him in the chest. James looked at the man and said, "Next time, make sure I'm really dead." Then, he pushed them man away with his foot, allowing the sword to come out of his chest. Then, the man fell to the ground.

The Jewel Riders, knights and other high-ranking members of both courts, all applauded, "Well done!" said King Midas, as he stood and walked over to James.

"Well done?" said King George, as he stood, "There's an understatement. Did you see what my son did to that brute? He just killed the unkillable." George then patted his son on the back.

"A valiant feat, for sure, but it is still just a man. Can he do the same with a dragon?"

"Do fairies sprinkle dust? Do trolls live under bridges?"

James patted his father on the back, "Father, relax." He looked at Midas, "I can kill whatever beast you set after me."

"My kingdom is plagued by a dragon like nothing you've ever faced before," said Midas, "He has killed every warrior that's tried to slay him."

"Well, he's yet to face me."

"My kingdom needs this threat vanquished."

"And my kingdom needs gold," said George, "I'm sure we can work something out."

King Midas raised his right hand. It had a metal gauntlet covering it. A man came up and started to take it off of Midas' hand. Midas looked at him and said, "Careful. Remember what happened to Frederick." The man removed the gauntlet and everyone could see Midas' hand glowing with golden magic. He looked at James, "Your sword."

James raised his sword and Midas touched it. Then the sword turned to gold, "Consider it a down payment. You'll get the rest when you deliver the dragon's head to me."

"It's a deal," said James, "Forgive me if I refuse to shake on it, King Midas."

Midas laughed then looked at George, "Come. Let's discuss the details."

Midas and George stepped away. Midas's knights and members of his court followed the two kings. Gwen stepped forward and said, "A toast to my fearless brother."

The Jewel Riders and George's knights cheered, "No, there's no celebrating today," said James, "This was but a simple test. The task before us is too big, too important to make light of. Just because I was easily able to kill this brute, doesn't mean…" James was cut off as the man that James was fighting came back to life and stabbed the Prince through his chest.

"James!" shouted Gwen, as her brother fell to the ground dead.

* * *

A short time later, James' body was laying on an altar. King George, Princess Gwenevere, The Jewel Riders and several knights were there.

"Goodbye, my son," said George. He nodded then several knights carried the body away.

Fallon and Tamera walked up to the grieving monarchs and Fallon said, "Your Majesty… Your Highness… there is no time to grieve. If Midas learns he is dead, he will find another warrior to slay his dragon and we will never see an ounce of his gold."

"Yes, yes. The kingdom must survive," said George.

"Father," said Gwenevere, "Let me take the Jewel Riders and a few other knights. Our magic will protect us enough to defeat the dragon."

"Normally, I would… but Midas is looking for more than just a dragon slayer. He's looking for a man to marry his daughter Abigail."

"So, what are we to do?" asked Tamera.

"I have asked for help," said King George, "It should be here soon."

"Oh, it's here," said a voice behind them. They all turned and saw Rumplestiltskin behind them.

"Leave us," said the King. The knights and the Jewel Riders left George and the Dark One to talk.

* * *

Gwenevere always knew her brother James was adopted. But, she didn't care. She loved him anyway. But, she was shocked when her father told her that James had a twin brother named David. David had agreed to take James' place. The Jewel Riders would slay the dragon, George's knights would keep David out of harm's way and David would present the dragon's head to King Midas.

George's knights made camp below the mountains were the dragon lived. David was looking at his reflection in a shield. King Midas walked up to him and said, "There he is. Our savior! The man who is going to tear the dragon limb from limb." David pulled James' gold sword out of it sheath. Then, he nodded. David started to put the sword away when Midas stopped him, "You do this, and you'll be a legend."

Midas walked away. Then, Gwenevere, Fallon and Tamera walked up to him. Tamera noticed his armor was loose, "Here... let me. You fastened it wrong."

Tamera fixed it then Fallon took David's sword, "Here… give me that," she said.

"How will I fight?" asked David, "How will I protect myself?"

"You won't," said Gwen, "You will stay outside the cave while we kill the dragon."

"If you don't come out of this alive, Midas won't give our kingdom any gold," said Fallon.

"You might have the title of hero, but not the job," said Tamera.

Just then they heard the dragon roar from the mountains.

* * *

The Jewel Riders lead David and a group of knights along a narrow mountain trail. As they walked they saw the remnants of previous knights who had tried to slay the dragon. Soon, they arrived at the dragon's cave. Gwen looked at David, "The dragon's lair is through there. You stay here. We'll be back."

Gwen, Fallon and Tamera each took the Enchanted Jewels they wore on the belt around their waist off and held it up to the sky. Gwen had a sun shaped jewel, Fallon's was shaped like a crescent moon, and Tamera's was shaped like a heart. "By the Magic of the Sun Stone," said Gwen.

"By the Magic of the Moon Stone," said Fallon.

"By the Magic of the Heart Stone," said Tamera.

Then, Gwenevere was surrounded by yellow magic, Fallon was surrounded by blue magic and Tamera was surrounded by red magic. When the magic cleared the armor that each woman was wearing had changed to match the color of the magic that surrounded them. Then, the Jewel Riders and a some of the knights drew their weapons and entered the cave while two knights stayed behind with David.

They entered the cave and almost instantly they ran right into the dragon. Before they could even get a chance to fight the dragon it blew fire at them. The knights that were with the Jewel Riders were burned alive but the magic the Jewel Riders had protected them. They weren't burned by the fire but they were knocked back and blown out of the cave knocking their swords from their hands. They were knocked out for a moment but when Gwen came to she felt David pulling her away from the cave. "Where's your sword?" he asked.

Before Gwen could answer the dragon came out of the cave they were able to get behind a rock as the dragon blew fire at them, as it flew away. "Stay here," said David. David left her behind and grabbed a sword from one of the fallen knights. But, the sword was still hot and he burned his hand. The dragon flew toward David and blew fire at him. But, David was able to move out of the way of the blast, as the dragon flew up into the sky again to ready another attack. David looked back the way he and the others came and saw a small crevice he and the others had to walk through to get the dragon's cave.

He started to run to it and picked up the golden sword that Fallon had taken from him. The dragon landed and started to follow him. Gwen sat up and watched as the dragon followed him and then got stuck in the small space. Then a few moments later, the dragon stopped moving. Then, David walked around the body of the dragon and Gwen, Tamera and Fallon got to their feet and walked over to David. "What happened?" asked Gwen.

"I killed the dragon…" said David a little stunned, "He got stuck between the rocks and I cut its head off."

* * *

 _Storybrooke  
Present Day_

Starla was in her classroom, packing up to go home for the day, when Mary Margaret came in, "Starla… He left his wife. David… He left her. He left Kathryn."

"Wait. What?" asked Starla.

Mary Margaret pulled up a chair and sat down next to her friend, "He did it for me. He wants me to be with him. He wants me to meet him tonight."

"That's, uh…"

"I mean, I'm trying so hard to be strong, but he just keeps coming. I mean, how do I stop it? You know, how do I let him down? What would you do?"

"I'd go."

"What?"

Starla smiled, "Mare… He left her. It's one thing to say that he wants you, but it's another to actually make a choice and now, he has. That's all you can ask for."

"Given her new friendship with Kathryn, I don't think Regina would be happy."

Starla rolled her eyes, "Whose happiness is more important? Yours or Regina's?"

"Good Lord, is this really happening?" asked Mary Margaret

"You tell me?" asked Starla with a smile.

Mary Margaret smiled.

* * *

 _The Enchanted Forest  
Many Years Ago_

Midas, George, David and Gwenevere were in George's council chambers looking at the dragon's head that Midas had turned to gold. "He has done it," said George, "Everything you asked for and more. My son battled the dragon and prevailed."

"Bring it to the palace," said Midas to a couple of his guards, "Put it between the chimera and the mapinguary."

George whispered to David, "We did it. We pulled it off."

"Yes," whispered David, "Now how much longer before I can return home?"

"That's a discussion not for now."

Midas turned and looked at the other three nobles in the room, "From this day forth, may that beast's head be a reminder to us of the valiant warrior who killed it. The bravest, most noble prince I have ever met. You have earned my utmost respect." Midas bowed his head.

"We treasure that respect, King Midas," said Gwenevere, "Just as we respect your treasure."

"Yes, yes. You were promised gold and gold you shall have. But, I did not get to where I am by thinking small. I stand before you now because I dared to dream big. I was not just looking for a dragon slayer. I was looking for the strongest warrior in the land. A hero. Someone who could unite the kingdoms. Someone I would be proud to call family. Bring her!" The door opened and a blond woman in a blue dress walked in flanked by two of Midas' guards. "Lady, Gentlemen. May I present my daughter, Abigail. Beyond gold – beyond anything – I value her most. I promised her I would only give her hand in marriage when I could find a companion worthy of her. And now, I have."

Abigail looked David up and down, "He killed the dragon?" she asked. Midas nodded, then she said, "I guess he'll do."

"And so, Prince James, I offer you my daughter's hand in marriage," said Midas.

David was taken aback, "King Midas, I am humbled by your generous offer, but I cannot honestly say…"

George cut him off, "My son… always so humble." He pulled David into a hug. Gwen couldn't hear what her father was saying. Then George broke the hug and put his hands on either side of David's face, "I will take your silence for wisdom. Follow it. I know you'll make the right decision."

* * *

A short time later, David and Abigail walked toward Midas, George and Gwen, hand in hand, "Let this mark the beginning of a new era – of a new kingdom. United and strong," said Midas.

"An era of mutual prosperity," said George.

"Abigail. James," said Midas, "As I stay to work out the particulars of our new land with King George and Princess Gwenevere, go to your new home at my palace. We'll be along shortly and the celebration will be beyond your dreams."

"Thank you, Daddy," said Abigail, "I trust that you know best."

George took David aside, "I'm glad you made the right decision, son."

"Thank you…father," said David.

They shook hands and Abigail walked over to them, "Come… I'm tired of waiting," she said.

"Well then, our journey shall begin! I'd thought we might take the scenic route."

Abigail didn't say anything. She just walked toward their carriage. George looked at David and said, "Smile, son. You're on the road to true love."

Gwen noted the sad smile and David's face.

* * *

 _Storybrooke  
Present Day_

The next day before school started Starla went to Mary Margaret's classroom. Starla and Archie had a date that night and she got home kind of late and she didn't want to wake Mary Margaret to find out what happened at the Toll Bridge. Starla was smiling when she walked in the room and saw Mary Margaret setting up her room for the day. She looked kind of sad. "Mare?" asked Starla, as her smile went away, "What's wrong?"

Mary Margaret just sighed, "Nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing," said Starla, as she walked up to her friend, "Did didn't David show up at the Toll Bridge last night?"

"Yeah," said Mary Margaret, "He did..."

Starla was confused, "Then, what's wrong?"

"He told me that he got his memory back… He remembered how he felt about Kathryn and he wanted to go back to her to give her a second chance."

"What?" asked Starla, "You told me that he wanted you to be with him?"

"He told me that he had feelings for me that he didn't understand but he wanted to go back to her because 'it's the right thing to do'"

"That's crazy. So, what did you do?"

"I pretty much just left him there and then went to Granny's… Where I met Dr. Whale."

"Dr. Whale?"

"Yeah… He came up to me as I sat at the bar at Granny's. We talked a little and had a couple of drinks and then we went back to his place…"

Starla was shocked, "Mary Margaret Blanchard. Are you telling me you had a one-night stand with Dr. Whale?" Mary Margaret nodded.

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	5. Broken

Broken

 **AN:** **I've decided to jump ahead to the start of Season 2 because I was finding hard to find places to fit Gwen, Fallon and Tamera. I was looking over the summaries for the upcoming episodes and I really couldn't find a place for them to fit logically, either in Storybrooke or the flashbacks. For me, my OCs have to fit in the story. They can't just be shoehorned in. It has to make sense to me for them to be there. So here is what we are going to do, everything that happened between "Desperate Souls" and "Broken" happened just the same as it did on** _ **Once Upon a Time**_ **. Now on with the show…**

 _Storybrooke  
Months Later_

Starla, Alex and Melody were heading to Granny's to have lunch together, when the wave of magic reached them and restored their memories. The three women looked at each other and Fallon, the woman who used to be Alex, "Gwen? What's going on?"

"I think Emma broke the curse," said Starla, said Gwen, the woman who used to be Starla. "We need to find my brother and Snow."

They were almost to Main Street just in time to see the wall of purple smoke, "Is that another curse?!" asked Tamera, the woman who used to be Melody.

Before they could react, they were engulfed by the smoke and when it dissipated they found themselves still in Storybrooke. "What was that?" asked Fallon.

"I don't know," said Gwen, "Come on!" She looked and saw her brother and Snow standing in Main Street, hugging Ruby and Granny, "There they are!" The three women rushed over to them, "David!" said Gwen.

David turned and saw Gwen and smiled, "Gwen!" They hugged. Then Gwen moved to Snow and hugged. Tamera and Fallen then hugged the royal couple. Then they heard a male voice say, "Your Highness." They turned and saw the Seven Dwarfs there. Snow walked up to them and they shared a group hug.

"The curse… It's broken?" asked Grumpy, who was known as Leroy.

"Well, it appears so," said David.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Gwenevere.

"Now? Now I find my daughter," said Snow.

"So, it's true," said a voice.

They turned and saw Emma there with Henry. Mary Margaret slowly approached her daughter. She started to cry and hugged her daughter, "You found us," said Mary Margaret. Then, David wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter. Giselle, Tamera and Fallon wiped tears from their eyes. Gwen was so proud of her niece.

"Grandpa?" said Henry as he spoke up.

Mary Margaret laughs as they broke the hug and David smiled, "Yeah, kid. I suppose so," then he hugged Henry.

"That's going to take some getting used to," said Gwen.

Then, Leroy stepped forward, "I've got a question. If Emma broke the curse, then why are we still here?"

"That, my friend, is an excellent question," said David.

Mr. Clark sneezed, "And what was that smoke?"

"Who did this?" asked Doc.

"And what was that smoke?" asked Bashful.

"And why?" asked Walter.

"And what was that smoke?" asked Happy.

"Magic," said Mother Superior, as she joined the group, "It's here. I can feel it." Mary Margaret took the woman's hand.

"Magic?" asked Henry, "In Storybrooke? But you're the Blue Fairy. Do something magical."

"It's not quite that simple, Henry. No wand. No Fairy Dust. Matters are complicated now."

Henry looked at the Jewel Riders, "What about your Enchanted Jewels?"

"They disappeared when we came to Storybrooke." said Gwen.

"Well, I think we need to talk to the person responsible for bringing magic to Storybrooke," said Fallon, "the Queen." The dwarves all voiced their approval.

Then Emma spoke up, "No. Wait… It wasn't Regina."

"Who do you think it was?" asked Tamera.

"Gold…"

Emma then started to make her way to Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. The group followed behind her and as they walked Mary Margaret asked her daughter, "Is there anything that you wanted to ask us? I mean, you must have questions.

"The only questions I have are for Mr. Gold," said Emma, "Why did he double-cross me, and what did he do to this town?"

"Uh... Shouldn't we talk about 'it' first?"

"What?" asked Emma.

"Us. Your life. Everything?" said Mary Margaret.

"Can we do 'everything' maybe later? Like, with a glass of wine. Or... several... bottles."

"I know it's a lot to take in. For all of us," said David.

"And we don't want to push, but we've waited for this moment for so long..." said Mary Margaret.

"Yeah, so have I!" said Emma, as she came to a stop and turned to face her parents, "I've thought about this moment my entire life. I've imagined who you might be. But of all the scenarios that I concocted, my parents being... I-I just need a little time. That's... that's all."

Just then they heard a commotion, "Snow," said David. They looked ahead and saw a group of townspeople lead by Dr. Whale running through the streets. "

Then Archie ran up to them, "There you are. Come with me, I need your help. Dr. Whale's whipped everyone into a frenzy. They're going to Regina's house. They're gonna kill her!"

"Great, let's watch," said Leroy.

"No," said Archie, "No, we can't stoop to her level."

Gwen nodded at what her boyfriend said, "Archie is right. No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong."

Henry looked at Emma, "Please. She's still my mom."

Emma looked at Mary Margaret, "We have to stop them."

"If the Blue Fairy is Right," said David, "Regina could have her powers back. They could be marching into a slaughter." He and Mary Margaret looked at each other and nodded then the group started running down the street.

LG

When they got to Regina's house, the mob had surrounded Regina and Dr. Whale had her pinned against one of the columns. Emma pushed her way through the crowd, "Let her go!" said Emma as she reached Dr. Whale and she grabbed his arm and pulled her off of Regina.

"Why should I listen to you?" aside Dr. Whale.

"Because I am still the Sheriff," said Emma.

"Because she saved you. All of you!" said David.

"And because no matter what Regina did, it does not justify this!" said Mary Margaret.

"We are not murderers here," said Emma.

"Well, we're not from this world," said Dr. Whale.

"Yeah, well, you're in it now," said Emma.

Gwen stepped up and put herself between Dr. Whale and Regina, "Okay, Dr. Whale. That's enough…"

"Back off! You're not my Princess," said Dr. Whale.

She looked at the doctor and said, "Who are you, Whale?"

"That's my business."

"Well, my business is making sure this town doesn't go to hell, so whether or not I'm your Princess isn't the issue."

Just then David stepped forward, "We have a lot to figure out. And this isn't the way to do it."

Mary Margaret stepped next to Regina, "And Regina's death won't provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety, and more importantly, for ours."

PGJR

Gwen, Tamera, Fallon, Emma, Mary Margaret and Henry watched as David locked Regina in a cell as the Sheriff's station, "So, I'm a prisoner now?" asked Regina.

"If the curse is broken, why didn't we go back?" asked David.

"Because there's nothing to go back to. That land is gone."

"We should get to Gold," said Mary Margaret. Then, the group walked out of the station.

PGJR

Gwen, David and Mary Margaret watched as Emma loaded Henry into Ruby's car. "Keep him safe, Ruby." said Emma then Ruby drove off.

"Don't push it, Snow," said David.

"He's right," said Gwen, "You need to give Emma a little time. This can't be easy for her."

"Don't worry," said Mary Margaret, "I've got this…"

"You guys ready?" asked Emma.

"We need to talk."

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"I- Well, I don't... I just- I don't wanna talk," said Emma.

"But I do, okay? Gold can wait. I can't. You're my daughter. And I wanna talk to you. I know that we have talked. But we didn't know that we were talking. And we talked about things we probably shouldn't have even talked about. One-night stands and the like."

"One-night stands?" asked David.

"Whale," said Mary Margaret.

"Whale?" said David.

"We were cursed. That is neither here nor there. The point is, we did not know that we were mother and daughter. And now we do. And, so, please, let's talk."

"Okay. What do you want to talk about?" said Emma.

"We're together, finally. And I can't help but think you're not happy about it," said Mary Margaret.

"Oh, I am. But, see, here's the thing. No matter what the circumstances, for 28 years I only knew one thing, that my parents sent me away."

"We did that to give you your best chance."

"You did it for everyone. Because that's who you are. Leaders, heroes, princes and princesses. And that's great and amazing, and wonderful, but it doesn't change the fact that for most of my life, I've been alone."

"But if we hadn't sent you away, you would've been cursed, too."

"But we would've been together. Which curse is worse?" There was a pause and Emma said, "Come on. Let's just... Let's go find Gold."

LG

The group headed into Mr. Gold's shop as he was making tea. He looked up and saw Emma, David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon walk in, "What can I do for you?" he asked.

"What you can do is tell us what you did," said Gwen.

"I'm sorry, you're gonna have to be more specific."

"You know damn well what we're talking about," said David.

"You double-crossed Emma, you, uh, took your—uh—potion from her," said Mary Margaret.

"And did who-knows-what to this town," said Gwen.

"And worst of all you risked Henry's life," said Emma.

"Well, that is quite a litany of grievances, now, isn't it?" asked Mr. Gold

"Maybe I don't need answers," said Emma, "Maybe I just need to punch you in the face."

"Oh," Mr. Gold laughed, "Really, dearie?" he came around from behind the counter, "Allow me to answer your questions with some of my own, all right?" Gold looked at Emma, "Did your dear boy, Henry, survive?"

"Yeah."

"Is the curse broken? And let's see here, Miss Swan, how long have you been searching for your parents? Looks like you're reunited. Seems like rather a punch in the face, I deserve a thank-you."

"Twist Emma's words all you want, Dark One," said Fallon, "what was the purple smoke?"

"You know," said Mr. Gold, "Magic."

"Why?" asked Tamera.

"Not telling."

Then there was a rumbling and the store shook, "What the hell was that?" asked Emma. David and Mary Margaret looked out the door window. They could hear something wailing and a strong wind blew long main street. Then the street lights flickered and sparked.

"That is my gift to you," said Mr. Gold, "That is gonna take care of Regina."

"Emma, come on!" said Mary Margaret.

"We need to go take care of this," said David.

"We're not done," said Emma.

"Oh, I know. You still owe me a favor," said Mr. Gold. Then, the group ran out.

PGJR

When they got to the station they saw a black creature trying to suck Regina's soul out of her body.

David grabbed a chair and shouted, "Hey!" David tried to hit it with the chair, but the creature sent it flying across the room. David and Fallon then both attempted to attack the creature and but it just sent them flying. Gwen and Tamera went to check on them, while Mary Margaret and Emma moved forward but the creature moved a desk and they had to step back. The desk then continued toward David and the others who moved out of the way in just the nick of time. Then The creature went back to sucking Regina's soul out of her body.

Mary Margaret grabbed a spray can and a lighter and walked up to the creature, "Over here!" she called as she used the spray can and lighter as a makeshift flamethrower. The creature then crashed through a window and flew away.

Emma went to check on Regina, "What the hell was that thing?" asked Emma.

"A Wraith," said Regina, "A soul sucker."

"Did I-" Mary Margaret started to ask.

"-Kill it? No. It's regenerating. It'll be back. It doesn't stop until it devours its prey." Regina showed them the mark on her hand, "Me."

"So, how do we kill it?" asked Gwen.

"There's no way. Can't kill something that's already dead."

"Then we have a problem," said Tamera.

"No, we don't. Regina does," said David.

"What?" asked Regina.

"David?" asked Mary Margaret.

"You wanna let her die?" asked Gwen.

"Why not? Then it goes away," said David, "Then we're safe."

"That's quite the example you're setting for your daughter, there," said Regina.

"No. You don't get to judge us!"

"Let me ask you something, where do you think that thing came from? Gold."

"I made a promise to Henry," said Emma, "She's not dying."

"If it can't be killed, what do you suggest?" asked Fallon.

"Send it somewhere it can't hurt anyone," said Regina.

LG

he group headed to Town Hall. Regina said she had a hat they could use to send the creature away. David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera had brooms to use as torches.

"So, how does it work?" asked Mary Margaret, as they walked to the town council chambers.

"It will open a portal to our land," said Regina, as she walked in the room and sat the hat on the floor, "All we have to do is send the Wraith in there."

"Oh is that all," said Fallon, sarasticlly.

"I thought you said our land was gone," said Tamera, as David started lighting the brooms.

"It is," said Regina, "But sending it to a place that no longer exists... Well, that's banishing it to oblivion." She got ready to spin the hat when the lights started to flicker and they could hear the Wraith's wailing.

"Regina..." said Fallon.

Regina continued to try spinning the hat, "I'm trying." The doors to the main hall blew open and the Wraith entered the main hall. David, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera were holding torches on one side of a railing. While Regina continued to spin the hat with Emma and Mary Margaret the other side.

"Regina," said Emma.

"I know," said Regina.

David and the Jewel Riders stepped forward and slashed at the wraith with their brooms. Mary Margaret grabbed a bottle of alcohol and poured alcohol along the railing, "David!"

David pulled the railing together and lit it with his torch, "Hurry!"

"It's not working," said Regina as she continued to spin the hat. David and the Jewel Riders continued to keep the wraith back as best they could.

"What is the problem?" asked Emma.

"Magic. It's different here."

"Now would be the time!" said Gwen.

Emma touched Regina's arm. Then, the hat started to spin, opening a portal. The wraith knocked David, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera back against the wall and the Wraith headed for Regina who was standing between it and the portal with Emma.

"It's coming!" said David.

"Regina!" said Emma, as she pushed Regina out of the way. The Wraith was sucked into the portal, but as it disappeared it grabbed Emma ankles and pulled her into the portal.

"NO!" shouted Mary Margaret and David.

"I'm not losing her again!" said Mary Margaret.

"Neither am I," said David.

Gwenevere, Tamera and Fallon all looked at each other and nodded. They were going too. David and the Jewel Riders all got to their feet. Mary Margaret jumped into the portal. David and the Jewel Riders jumped over the railing but it was too late, the portal closed and David landed on the hat, crushing it.

The four of them got up off the floor and looked at Regina, "Where are they?" asked David.

"I have no idea," said Regina.

They walked up to her, "Are they dead?" asked Gwen.

"The curse, it destroyed all the lands-" Regina started.

"ARE THEY DEAD!?" shouted David.

"I don't know!" said Regina.

"I should've killed you myself!" said David as he stepped closer and shoved Regina.

"Well, then, what's stopping you?" said Regina, she pushed the four of them back against the wall with magic. Vines came out of the wallpaper and held them just off the ground and choked them. Regina looked right at David, "You think you're some heroic Prince? Please. You're nothing but the son of a shepherd. I should've killed you when I could. And now... Now I can."

Just then Henry and Ruby walked in, "Mom?" asked Henry.

"Henry, what are you doing here?" asked Regina.

"What are you doing?"

Regina walked up to Henry, "It's okay. You're safe now."

The vines released David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon, then they fell to the floor. Ruby went over to them.

"Wh—where's my mom? Where's-" Henry started to ask.

"They're gone," said Regina, "They fell through a portal. They're... Henry, I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. You really are the Evil Queen. I don't wanna see you again."

"No, don't say that. I love you."

"Then, prove it. Get Emma and Mary Margaret back. And until then, leave me, leave everyone alone."

"Where will you go?"

"With us," said David as himself and Travis stood next to him. Then, David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon, Henry and Ruby left.

PGJR

That night, Gwen was in bed asleep. She woke up with a start and looked around her room. She felt strange. She felt something was calling to her. She quickly dressed, got in her car and started to drive. She didn't know where she was going but something inside her was guiding her. She pulled up to a small house just as two other cars pulled up. She got out of her car and saw Tamera and Fallon get out of their cars. "What are you guys doing here?"

"I don't know," said Fallon, "I woke up and something was just drawing me here."

"Same thing," said Tamera, "Who lives here, Gwen?"

"I don't know," said Gwen, "But, the force that's drawing me here is stronger. So, I'm willing to bet whatever it is in that house…"

The three women walked up to the door and Gwen knocked. An old man, wearing a red button up shirt, gray T-shirt and black pants opened the door. The women were surprised, it was the Sorcerer's Apprentice, "Hello, Jewel Riders… I've been waiting for you…"

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	6. We Are Both

We Are Both

Gwen, Tamera and Fallon sat in the living room of The Sorcerer's Apprentice. They watched as he poured them some tea, "What did you mean you were waiting for us?" asked Fallon.

The Apprentice lightly chuckled, "Well… It wasn't exactly me that was waiting for you," He opened up a large jewelry box that was sitting on the coffee table. Inside were three large jewels. A yellow one shaped like the sun, a blue one shaped like a crescent moon, and a red one shaped like a heart.

The three women were shocked, "The Enchanted Jewels," said Gwen, as they reached for their jewels and took them out of the box.

"How did you end up with them?" asked Tamera.

"When I was caught up in the Dark Curse, I was able to manipulate it slightly," said The Apprentice, "I had the Enchanted Jewels return to me for safe keeping until the curse was broken. When the Dark One brought magic to this land, it reactivated the Jewels and they started to regain their strength. When they were ready, they started to call to you."

The three women stood up and hugged the man, "Thank you, Archimedes," said Gwen.

The Apprentice smiled, "Your welcome, Gwenevere."

* * *

The next day, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon were helping step up Crisis Center in front of City Hall. They were carrying some blankets, "If you are looking for a family member, come to the front table," Fallon called out to the group.

"If you need counseling, Dr. Hopper has a signup sheet," said Gwen.

"If the wraith damaged your house, there are cots at the school," said Tamera.

They walked over to Mother Superior who was manning the First Aid tent, "This is getting out of hand," she said as she took the blankets from the Jewel Riders, "People are in a panic. They don't know what to do."

"It's okay," said Tamara, "It'll be fine. We just need everyone to remain calm."

"I have a feeling my brother is working on something right now," said Gwen.

A short time later, they were helping Mother Superior and her nuns hand out bottle water. When they heard David call out, "Blue!" They looked at saw David followed by Archie, Ruby, Henry, Dr. Whale and Marco. He came up to them and he asked her, "Could there be a tree on this side? The way we sent Emma through as a baby. Maybe I could go after them that way."

"It's possible," said Mother Superior, "but without fairy dust to guide us here… No, it's hopeless."

"You'll find another way," said Henry as he spoke up, "In the book, things always look worse right before there's good news."

Just then they heard Leroy call out, "Terrible news! Terrible news!" They looked at saw the Seven Dwarves rush in. When they reached them Leroy said, "We were out at the town limits. Tell them who you think you are, Sneezy."

"Oh, will you stop calling me that," said Sneezy, "You know who I am. I'm Tom Clark. I own the Dark Star Pharmacy. What's going on here?"

"If you cross the border, you lose your memory all over again."

"A-And coming back doesn't fix it?"

"If it did, would I have come running in yelling 'terrible news'?! If we leave, our curse selves become our only selves."

The group started to panic. Everyone was talking over each other. David didn't know what to do. But he needed to think so he started to walk away. The group followed him then he stopped and faced them, "People! Everybody! Everybody meet back here in two hours. I'll tell you my plan to fix everything." Then, David walked away.

Gwen, Fallon, Tamera and Henry walked up to David, "What's the plan?" asked Gwen.

"I don't know. But I got two hours to figure it out." Then, David walked away and Henry followed him.

* * *

Two hours later, everyone was waiting for David, in the town counsel chamber. Henry tried to call David and he wasn't having any luck, "Come on, Gramps. Pick up. Come on…" said Henry.

"Please, everyone," said Gwen, as she and the Jewel Riders stood in the middle of the group "Just be patient. I'm sure he's going to be here any second." Granny was wandering around with her crossbow, "Granny, do you really need that?"

"We've got a lawless town, Gwenevere. Damn right I need it," said Granny.

Gwen went up to great nephew, "Try calling him again."

"He's not picking up."

"Just keep trying."

Just then, the doors in the back of the room flew open and Regina stood there with a smirk on her face, "My, what a nice turnout," she said as she walked to the front, "No need for a fuss. It's just little old me."

"Regina. Think about what you're doing," said Archie.

"Bug," said Regina. With a flick of her hand she threw Archie across the room.

"Hey!" said Leroy, as he took a running start at Regina. But, Regina flicked her hand and Leroy flew across the room

Granny fired an arrow at Regina, but Regina simply caught it, "How sweet," said Regina, as she set the arrow on fire, and it transformed into a fireball. She threw it into the crowd and it bounced off the wall and hit the Storybrooke Town Seal behind Regina's head, setting it on fire.

"What do you want?" said Gwen as she Tamera and Fallon stepped up to the front of the crowd. They each took their jewels off of the belts around their waists.

"Me," said Henry, as he stepped forward, "She wants me. Okay, I'll come with you. Just leave them alone."

"That's my boy," said Regina. She put her arm around Henry's shoulder and lead him out.

Gwen, Tamera and Fallon just watched as Regina lead Henry out. They knew Regina's magic was no match for the magic their jewels possessed. They might slow her down but more than likely someone else would get hurt.

Once Regina was gone, Dr. Whale stepped forward. "It's obvious what we have to do. We can't stay here. The Queen can do whatever she wants and we are powerless to stop her. We have to leave." Most of the crowd murmured in agreement.

"You can't leave," said Gwen, "if you cross the line you'll lose your memories… possibly for good."

"We can't stop Regina," said Dr. Whale. Then he turned to the crowd, "If we want a chance to survive we have to leave." Then, everyone started leaving, except for the Jewel Riders.

Fallon looked at Gwen, "What are we going to do, Gwen?"

"We have to find David," said Gwen.

* * *

The Jewel Riders started to look for the missing prince. When they got to Granny's, a man almost knocked them over as he ran past. Then David came up to the courtyard and started to run after him. The three women stopped him and Gwen said, "David, stop!"

"Get out of my way!" he shouted.

"Regina has Henry," said Tamera.

"But he has the way!"

"She has Henry!" said Fallon, "She's threatening everyone."

"She has Henry?" he said.

"She showed up at your town meeting," said Gwen, "the one you missed. Her magic's back. Everyone's panicking. They want to leave town… They're going to lose everything."

"Okay. Okay, but I have to go after him first. He's my only hope of finding a way to get Emma and Snow back."

"Back to what? This town is about to come apart. You've got to do something."

* * *

David and The Jewel Riders got in David's pick up. Gwen and Tamera sat in the cab, while Fallon got in the back. They found the group of cars that was leaving down. David passed the cars then when he reached the front of the he pulled his truck in front of the line of cars just before they could cross the town line. David got in the back of the truck as Fallon got out and joined Gwen and Tamera outside the truck. The people who wanted to leave town got out of their cars and marched to the blockade, "Get out of the way!" said Dr. Whale, "We have a right to go!"

"Listen to me! Listen!" said David. Everyone stopped talking and listened to David, "If you cross that line, you're going to be lost. Everyone who loves you will lose you. But there's something worse – you'll lose yourself. Look, I get wanting to leave here, I do. And I get that it's easier to let go of bad memories, but… Even bad memories are part of us. David, Storybrooke David, was – is – weak, confused. And he hurt the woman I love. I wouldn't give up being Charming just to be him, but, you know what? I wouldn't make the other trade, either. Because that David reminds me, not only of who I lost, but of who I want to be. My weaknesses, and my strengths. David, and the Prince. I am both – just like you. You are both. The town is both. We are both. Stay here, and every choice is open to you. Live in the woods if you want. Hell, live in a shoe if you want. Or eat frozen burritos and write software. Let's open Granny's and the school. And get back to work. I will protect you. She won't be able to hurt any of us. Not as long as I'm alive. Not as long as we all come together. As we did before. As we shall do again."

Everyone looked at David. Then, everyone headed back to their cars. Gwen smiled, "Great speech, David."

"Thanks," said David, "Now, let's get Henry."

* * *

David and the Jewel Riders barged into Regina's house. David was carrying his sword, "I want to see him." He said.

Regina was sitting at the dining room table, she stood up and walked toward them, David brought the sword up to Regina's neck, "Henry, come down!" she called up the stairs. She looked at David, "You won't be using your sword." She looked at the Jewel Riders and saw they had their Jewels out, "or your Jewels," she added.

"Whatever you conjure, we can fight," said Fallon

"I mean, you won't need your sword or Jewels," She gently pushed the sword away. Just then Henry started down the stairs. She met him on the stairs, "Henry, you're going to go home with David."

"Really?" asked Henry.

"Really. I shouldn't have brought you here. I was… I don't know how to love very well. I wasn't capable of it for a very long time, but I know I remember… If you hold onto someone too hard, that doesn't make them love you. I'm sorry I lied to you. And that I made you feel like I didn't know who you are. But I want you to be here, because you want to be here. Not because I forced you, and not because of magic. I want to redeem myself. Go get your things."

Henry ran back upstairs, and David said, "Then prove it."

"How?"

"Answer one question – does it exist?"

"What?"

"The Enchanted Forest – our land. Does it still exist?"

"Yes. But I have no idea how to get back there. I can see I just launched you all on a heroic quest. Just also make sure you take care of my son?"

"That, we can do," said Gwen. Just then, Henry came down the stairs with his things. Then, they left.

* * *

That night, David and Henry were having dinner at Granny's siting at the counter, when Gwen, Tamera and Fallon walked up to them. David saw them and said, "Ladies? What can I do for you?"

"Well, David," said Gwen, "we talked about what you said to today to the crowd that wanted to leave and you told them they could do whatever they wanted with their lives here in Storybrooke."

"We talked it over and while we love teaching, we want to help protect people," said Tamera.

"So, we offer our services as your deputies while Emma is gone," said Fallon.

David smiled, "Your all sure about this?" The three women nodded, "Well, I couldn't think of three people I would want more to have as my deputies. Welcome to the Storybrooke Sheriff's Department." The three women smiled.

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	7. The Doctor

The Doctor

A couple of days later, David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon were standing outside Granny's when Dr. Whale came up to them, "You," said Dr. Whale, they turned and looked at him "we need to talk." David looked at his deputies and they nodded. Then, David punched him in the face, "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"Sleeping with my wife," said David.

"Kathryn?"

"Snow."

"Look, I didn't know, alright? I was cursed," said Dr. Whale.

"Yeah, I got it," said David, as he Gwen, Tamera and Fallon sat down at a table. "So, What do you want?" asked Gwen.

"So… Is it true?" asked Dr. Whale as he sat down, "People are saying that you're trying to find a way to build a portal back to your land, because that's where you think Emma and Mary Margaret are – that they're alive."

"Well, The whispers can stop," said Fallon, "We have no secrets from this town. That's exactly what we're doing."

"But the land, it's… It's gone. Destroyed by the curse."

"Apparently not," said Tamera.

"Well, you having any luck?" asked Dr. Whale.

"Not yet," said Gwen, "We're working on it."

"Does that mean that all the lands still exist?" asked Dr. Whale.

"Possibly," said David.

"So, the Queen lied to us. Again. Are you sure?"

"Remember who we're talking about."

* * *

The next day, David, Henry and Gwen arrived at the stables in David's truck. David got out, and said, "Alright!"

Henry and Gwen got out and Gwen noticed him yawning as they walked in the stables, "Come on. What's with the yawn? This isn't school. It should be fun."

"I couldn't sleep," said Henry.

"Hey," said David as he came to a stop he kelt down and looked his grandson in the eye, "I know. I miss 'em, too."

Then the three of them started to walk to where the horses were. Gwen said, "Now, just think how happy Emma and Snow will be when they come home to find that you've become a proper knight," they walked over to a row of stalls.

There was a grey horse sticking his head out of the stall, "Say hello to your steed," said David.

"Is he mine?" asked Henry, as he walked up to the horse.

David clicked his tounge and a white horse with a brown spot on his left side and brown ears walked up to the stall door, "This one's yours," said David.

"Really? So… How do I get on him?"

"Oh, you're not riding today," said Gwen.

"I'm not?"

"No. There's much to learn before you hop in the saddle."

"Like what?"

"Well, every morning, you'll have to muck out his stall," said David, "Then, you'll brush him and feed him."

"After school, you'll do it again," said Gwen, "Every day, twice a day."

"That's not riding, that's babysitting," said Henry.

"Ah. Horsesitting. It builds an essential bond," said Gwen, "The trust between knight and steed."

"Okay. But, when will I ride him?"

"When the horse tells you," said David, "Gwen and I are going to go check in on the dwarves – see how the mining's coming. We'll pick you up later." Then, David and Gwen walked away.

As they headed to the truck, Gwen saw an all white horse with a yellow mane in a stall. She smiled, "David... If you don't mind I'm going to stay here... There's someone I need to talk too." she said.

David saw the horse and smiled, "No... that's fine. I'll see you later."

David walked away and Gwen walked up to the horse, it was the horse that Gwen rode when she was a Jewel Rider, "Hello, Sunstar."

The horse looked at Gwen and in her head Gwen heard the horse say, "Gwen..."

Gwen hugged the horse's neck and started to cry, "I thought I'd never see you again."

"Likewise, Princess."

"So... How about we go for a ride for old times' sake."

"I'd like that."

* * *

Tamera and Fallon walked into the minds and saw David and the dwarves mining for diamonds that could be grounded into fairy dust to try to restore the hat that pulled Snow and Emma into the Enchanted Forest. David saw them and walked up to them, "Hey guys, what are you doing here."

"We just came to check on the progress," said Fallon, "How's it going?"

"Slow," said David, "But, I'm sure we'll find them and when we do we'll figure out how to get Snow and Emma back."

"Where's Gwen?" asked Tamera.

"She's at the stables with Henry."

Just then Tamera's cellphone rang, she took it out and said, "It's the hospital…" she answered it and said, "Deputy Hart…."

"Your cell phones' work down here?" asked David to Fallon.

"The Enchanted Jewels make great cellphone signal boosters," said Fallon.

David chucked a bit then Tamera said, "What? We'll be right there…." Then she hung up.

"What's going on?" asked Fallon.

"Dr. Whale has been attacked."

* * *

Back in Storybrooke, David, Tamera and Fallon walked into the hospital. They saw Regina standing outside one of the recovery rooms, "What's going on?" asked David, "We just got a call that Dr. Whale was attacked."

"You'll have to ask his doctors," said Regina.

"No. I am asking you."

"I came here to speak with him and discovered he was hurt," said Regina. David, Tamera and Fallon didn't look convinced. Regina saw this and said, "It's the truth!"

"What else?" asked Fallon, "What did you come here to speak with him about?"

"Someone from my past. I believe he's come back. Daniel – his name is Daniel."

"The man you were supposed to marry," said David. Regina looked surprised, "Snow told me what happened and… How it was her fault that he died."

"Yes, he did," said Regina.

"Well, then how could he be back?" asked Tamera.

"Whale. He believed he could bring him back from the grave and… I don't know how… But he has."

"You don't know how?" asked David, "Guess."

"He practices something more powerful than magic," said Regina, "Or, so I was told. All he needed was a heart, and he took one of mine."

"You have hearts here?" asked Fallon

"In my vault. From our land."

"Whose heart did he take?" asked Tamera.

"I have no idea," said Regina, "I took so many, it was impossible to keep track. I need to go. I have to help him."

"No," said David, as he stopped Regina, "Where is he? Look what he did," He pointed at Dr. Whale, "he's dangerous."

"Not to me. He won't hurt anyone else, I promise."

"You know we can't take that chance. You have two choices Regina – tell us where he is, or jail."

"I think it's like when you awoke from your coma," said Regina, "He's following his final thoughts to where he last met me – the stables."

"No. Henry. Gwen and Henry are at the stables," said David.

Then the four of them ran out of the room.

* * *

After her ride on Sunstar, Gwen went to go check on Henry. He was brushing his horse and said,

At the stables, Henry was brushing his horse in one of the stalls, "Gramps and Aunt Gwen said that you'll tell me when I'm ready to ride you," he said, "So… Anytime. Like, soon?"

Gwen smiled as she walked in, "It takes time Henry. I have a feeling one day you'll be riding your trusty steed and meet your true love."

Henry smiled then Gwen smiled. Just then all the horses in the stable became spooked. Henry's horse knocked both of them to the ground and ran off. Before they could get to their feet to find Henry's horse, a man, dressed in white tunic belted at the waist and black pants, walked in the stall. The man looked to be in a daze. Henry and Gwen stood up and Henry said, "You… You got to stop. You're… You're scaring the horses."

Just then Gwen saw he had blood on his hands, "Are you hurt? Can I help you?" she asked, as she stepped forward and extended her hand toward the man. "Let me help you."

The Man grabbed Gwen by the neck and shoved her against the wall. Just then, Regina, David, Tamera and Fallon arrived, "Daniel! Let her go!" said Regina.

Daniel let go of Gwen and David quickly pulled her out of the stall, "Are you okay?" asked David.

"Yeah," said Gwen.

David lookedat Tamera and Fallon, "Get Henry out of here..."

The two woman took off with Henry but Regina just stood there and stared at Daniel, "It's true. You're really here."

Daniel lunged for Regina, but David pushed her out of the way and then shuts the door of the stall and locked it. Daniel furiously beat on the door, while David and Gwen tried to keep the door closed, "It won't hold for long," said David.

"What's going on?" asked Gwen, "Who is that guy?"

"Daniel... the man I was going to marry. My mother killed him and Dr. Whale brought him back."

"What?" asked Gwen. Daniel kept pounding on the door. "Can you cast a spell to subdue him?"

"No, I won't use magic on him," said Regina. Then, David pulled out his gun, "What do you think you're doing?!" shouted Regina.

"He's a monster, Regina! If you won't put him down, I will!"

"David, please! Just let me talk to him," said Regina, as she tried to stop him,

"It's too big of a risk. There's no telling what he'll do."

"You have to at least give me a chance!"

"Out of the way, Regina! Now!" said David, as he pushed Regina aside.

Regina grabbed on to him and said, "No! I won't let you hurt him! He'll listen to me! Please! Let me talk to my fiancé."

David and Gwen looked at each other and nodded. They walked away and let Regina talk to him alone. They walked outside the stalls and waited. A few minutes later Regina came out with tears running down her cheeks. "What happened?" asked Gwen.

"He came back," said Regina, "for a few moments... He tried to fight it, but the monster inside came back and he begged me to let him go... and I did... He's gone..."

"I'm sorry, Regina," said David.

"Thank you… If you all don't mind… I'd like to be alone for now," They all watched as Regina got in her car and drove away.

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	8. Child of the Moon

Child of the Moon

A couple of days later, David got a call from the dwarves that they Leroy broke through a wall in the cave and found something. David, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera arrived a short time later with Henry and Mother Superior. When they got to the mine and met up with Happy. "Where is he?" asked David.

Happy took them to where Leroy fell through the wall. They looked inside Leroy and several of the other dwarves were inside. When the dwarves saw them, they smiled. The group entered the cavern and they looked up and the ceiling was covered with diamonds, "Are those…" Henry started to ask.

"Diamonds," Mother Superior answered, "They're back. The magic brought them back."

"You mean, the kind that become fairy dust?"

"Indeed. We just need to refine them – grind them up," Mother Superior looked at David, "Do you still have what remains of Jefferson's hat?" David took out the battered hat, "You lock this up," said Mother Superior, "Keep it safe. Because, by this time tomorrow, we'll have enough magic dust to make it work again."

"So, Mary Margaret and Emma…" said Henry.

"That's right, kid," said David, "We're bringing 'em home."

* * *

The group headed to Granny's to celebrate with a round of drinks, "To the dwarves!" said Gwen.

Everyone cheered.

"That was quite a spill. Are you okay?" asked Tamera.

"I've had worse," said Leroy.

Gwen looked at the other side of the diner and he saw her great nephew drinking a cup of coffee. He pointed it out to her brother and the two of them headed over to the booth Henry was sitting in, "Is that coffee?" asked Gwen, as they sat down.

"No," said Henry.

"Trying to stay up, huh?" asked David.

Henry nodded.

"Still worried about those nightmares?"

Henry nodded, again

"Well, don't be," said David, "Cause, when you go to sleep tonight, I'm going to be right in the next room. Now maybe, lose the java, and go grab a cocoa."

Henry got up and went to get himself a cocoa.

"Henry's been having nightmares?"

"Yeah," said David. "Something about a roomfull of fire. Snow had the same ones after I woke her up from the sleeping curse."

"Must be a side effect."

David nodded. Then, Albert Spencer sat down at the booth across from David and Gwen. "Congratulations, Sheriff, Quite a celebration."

"What are you doing here, Father?" asked Gwen.

"You two may have taken care of me in the old world, but, in this one, we get another go at each other."

"Whenever you're ready."

Albert looked at David, "It's a big moment for you, isn't it? On your way to getting your family back."

"Ah… Yeah, it must be hard for you. You know, watching good win," said David.

"Good? So sure of yourself. But I know the truth. You're still just a shepherd pretending to be a prince. You weren't fit to run the kingdom, and you sure as hell aren't fit to run this town."

"I think the people of Storybrooke might disagree with you," said Gwen.

"Today. But I'm going to see to it that they see things my way," Albert looked at David, "That they see you for who you really are, By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish you'd killed me when you had the chance."

"The people of this town know who I really am," said David, as he stood up. Gwen stood up as well and David continued, "And they've seen me defeat you before. So, if you want to try and take me down, they'll see it again." Then they walked away.

David and Gwen walked in the kitchen and saw someone welding on the door of the walk-in freezer, as Ruby watched. The person stopped and removed the welder's mask, it was Granny, "Almost done," She said, "Let's finish clearing out those perishables."

Ruby went into the freezer and carried out some trays, "What the hell is this?" asked David.

"We're making a cage." asked Ruby, "Know anybody who might want thirty-eight frozen lasagnas?"

"I'm sorry, what?" asked Gwen.

"I know. Nobody would believe it if you told them my lasagna was frozen," said Granny.

"No. Why are you building a cage?" asked David.

"Tonight's the first full moon since the curse broke. It's the first night of Wolfstime."

"I thought you figured out how to control the wolf in you ages ago?" asked Gwen.

"Yeah. But, thanks to the curse, I haven't turned in twenty-eight years," said Ruby, "I might be rusty. I can't let what happened last time – what happened to Peter – happen to anyone else."

"What about your red hood?" asked David, "That could keep you from turning."

"If I had it. I've looked everywhere. I even went to Gold. It's not in town. I don't think it came over with the curse."

"Ruby, I know you. I trust you. Snow trusted you. Wolfstime or not, you won't hurt anyone tonight."

"Maybe. But I can't afford to take any chances." Ruby stepped into the freezer and Granny shut the door.

* * *

The next day, Granny called the Sheriff's station and told them that Ruby got out of the freezer last night. The walls and the door were covered in claw marks. David, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera headed to the woods and searched for Ruby with Granny leading the way with her crossbow, "This way. Over here." They found Ruby asleep on the ground, "Ruby. Ruby, wake up."

"Hey," said David.

Ruby was groggy and kind of out of it as she stood, "Where am I? What happened?"

"You're in the forest," said Tamera, "You must've fallen asleep here last night."

"I-I don't understand," Ruby looked at Granny, "You put me in that cage. You locked me up."

"The freezer was torn to shreds when I came to check in on you this morning," said Granny.

Ruby gasped, "Ruby. Ruby, it's alright," said David, to calm her down.

"No. It's not," said Ruby, "I don't remember anything from last night. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Oh my God. Did I do something last night?"

"Ruby, all we know for sure is that you broke out and ran through the woods," said Fallon, "There's no reason to assume the worst."

Just then David's phone started to vibrate, he took it out of his pocket and answered it, "Sheriff… Yeah… Okay… We'll be right there." Then, he ended the call.

"What is it, David?" asked Gwen.

"Somebody left their car double-parked in front of the cannery. We've got to go check it out on our way back into town," then he looked at Ruby who was still shaken up, "Hey. Relax. Everything's going to be okay."

* * *

Tamera and Fallon went back to the Sheriff's station while David, Gwen, Ruby and Granny arrived at the cannery, in the patrol car.

"That's Billy's truck," said Ruby, as they got out of the car

"Great," said David, "Who do I call to tow a tow truck?"

Gwen looked over at Ruby. She could tell Ruby was smelling something, "What is it, Ruby? What's wrong?"

"I smell blood." They started to look around.

David looked in the tow truck, "Where's Billy?"

"Here," said Granny, who was at the front of the truck. He walked up and saw Billy's torso underneath the truck. Just then they heard Ruby scream.

They all ran over to Ruby and saw Billy's lower half sticking out of a dumpster, "It was the wolf! It was me!" shouted Ruby.

PGJR

While Granny coverd Billy's body, David, Gwen and Ruby talked near the patrol car. "It had to be something else, Ruby," said Gwen.

"No, I did this! We all know it," said Ruby.

"No," said David, "A few months ago, everyone thought Mary Margaret was guilty of murder. She needed someone to believe in her. I didn't do that. I am not going to make the same mistake with you!"

"Mary Margaret never killed anyone. I have."

"I know who you really are, Ruby. Even if you've lost sight of it."

"It doesn't change the fact that I am going to turn again tonight, and somebody else could get hurt."

"Maybe this isn't the place to have this discussion," said Granny, as she noticed a crowd starting to form.

"It's okay. I'll protect her," said David, as he started to move to talk to the crowd.

"No! Lock me up," said Ruby, "If the freezer couldn't hold me, maybe a jail cell will. I don't need to be protected from other people, David. Other people need to be protected from me."

* * *

Reluctantly, David and Gwen took Ruby to the sheriff's station and chained her to the bars of the cell, "You'll be safe in here tonight," said David, as he closed the door

"Thank you, David," said Ruby.

"Thank me in the morning. By then, we'll have found whoever really killed Billy."

Just then Albert walked in, "You already have. That thing. That she-wolf."

"Get out," said David, as he walked up to Albert, "Whatever issues you have with Gwen and me, don't involve her. There's no proof Ruby had anything to do with what happened."

"It seems to me, that you're allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment."

"Leave him alone," said Ruby.

"Protecting your friend at the peril of everyone else. I knew you'd slip up, shepherd. It was only a matter of time."

"What do you want?" asked Gwen.

"Justice," said Albert, "Hand that over to me, and let the town decide her fate."

"Never," said David, "I know exactly what kind of justice you have in mind."

"This town is bigger than you think. I start telling people that you three are putting their lives in danger to protect your own interests? You'll have a mutiny on your hands."

"Yeah, we'll see," said David, "You want her, you have to go through me."

"And me," said Gwen.

"And me," said Fallon.

"And me," said Tamera.

Albert looked at the four of them and smiled slightly, "I look forward to that." Then he walked away.

The four of them looked at each other, "Now what?" asked Tamera, "Knowing the people in this town, it won't take long for him to whip them up in a frenzy."

"We can't keep Ruby here now, that's for sure," said Fallon.

"I've got an idea," said Gwen. She walked over to her desk and picked up the phone. She dialed a number and a few moments later she said, "Hey, Belle. It's Gwen... I need a favor..."

* * *

They took Ruby to the library and they got some heavy chains to chain her to some large pipes. Ruby looked them over and said to Granny, "These should work."

"Thanks for letting her hide here," said David, as Belle and David walked over to the others, "The Sheriff's station isn't safe."

"Of course," said Belle, "It's, uh… It's not every day you find out your friend's-"

"A monster?" Ruby finished.

"Hunted. I was going to say hunted."

"The crowd's six blocks from here," said Granny.

"You… You have wolf hearing, too?" asked Belle.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be, especially when you run a hotel."

"The only way we're going to get the mob to stand down, is if we prove Ruby had nothing to do with Billy's death," said Gwen.

Just then David got an idea, he looked at Granny, "I'm going to need your help." He looked at Belle, "If the mob comes this way, call us. Come on." Then Granny, David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon left.

* * *

David, Gwen, Tamera, Fallon and Granny were on Main Street as Granny sniffed Billy's jacket, "This way," said Granny. Then she led them to a parked car, "The trunk."

David popped the trunk with a lock pick. The trunk looked empty but then David lifted the cover over the spare tire compartment and inside was Ruby's hood and a hatchet with blood on it, "A wolf didn't kill Billy," said David.

"Ruby's hood," said Granny.

"They took it so she'd be forced to change back into a wolf," said Gwen, "then whoever killed Billy could pin the murder on her."

"Who would want to hurt my Ruby?"

Fallon grabbed a crowbar out of the trunk. She tried the driver's side door and found it locked. She took the crowbar and smashed out the window. Then he unlocked the door and went inside. He opened up the glove box and took out the registration, "This isn't about Ruby," said Fallon, as she handed it to David, "It's about you and Gwen."

"What?" said Gwen, as David took the registration.

David looked at the name on the registration, "Spencer."

"King George?" asked Granny.

"He needed a reason to wrestle power away from us, so he created one," said Gwen.

Just then, they heard howling in the distance, "She's out."

"The mob," said Tamera, "They're going to kill her." Then they started to run to the library.

* * *

They found Albert and the mob to ally near the library. Ruby was in her wolf form hiding behind a dumpster. Albert stepped forward and drew his gun to shoot her but before he could fire. Granny shot the gun out of his hand with her crossbow, "The next one goes between your eyes!" she shouted.

"Ruby!" called David, he was holding Ruby's hood as he and his deputies walked through the mob.

"Listen to me!" said David, as they reached Albert, "Ruby didn't kill Billy. He did," as he pointed to Albert.

"He stole her cloak, and killed Billy in cold blood to make it look like a wolf," said Gwen, "All to get you to think we weren't leading this town as we should."

The wolf growled and the mob to start to move forward, "Stop!" said Tamera, "Somebody already died because of what this man did. Let's not spill more blood."

"She won't hurt anyone. She's just scared," said David. He and Gwen slowly moved to where Ruby was hiding.

"Ruby?" called Gwen, "WE know you're in there, so listen to us. It was Spencer, not you."

"Don't let him trick you into thinking you're a monster," said David. The wolf growled, "Alright, alright. Poor… Poor choice of words."

"Please. Ruby," said Gwen, "We know you. We know the real you, and we know you can control the wolf."

The wolf continued to growl as David and Gwen continued to step forward. "Ruby," said David, "Ruby? Ruby." They were just inches away from Ruby, "It's me – David." The wolf stopped growling and obediently sat. David quickly threw the hood over Ruby, transforming her back into a human.

"You saved me," said Ruby.

"No. You saved yourself," said Gwen, "We just reminded you of what you already knew." There was a commotion amongst the crowd.

They ran over and found Granny, Fallon and Tamera on the ground. Tamera and Fallon were standing up and David helped up Granny, "What happened? Where's Spencer?" asked David.

"He's gone," said Granny.

"Tamera, Fallon, stay here," said Gwen.

David, Gwen and Ruby ran to the patrol car and took off to find Albert. They found him on the beach standing next to a fire, "You think you can hide from a wolf?" asked Ruby.

"I wasn't trying to hide," said Albert, as he kept looking at the fire

"You killed an innocent man," said Gwen.

"He was a mouse."

"He was better than you'll ever be," said Ruby.

"You want to make a deal?" asked David, "It's not going to happen."

"I'm not interested in making a deal. I just want to see the look on your face when you realize something," said Albert. Then he turned to face them

"And what's that?"

"That you're never going to see your wife, or your daughter again."

"What are you talking about?" asked Gwen.

"You really should be more cautious with something so valuable." Albert pulled out Jefferson's hat and threw it into the fire.

"No!" shouted David, as he rushed up to the fire. He wanted to pull the hat out but the fire was very hot and the hat burned quickly.

"It doesn't matter how much fairy dust you gather, or how much you rally the town behind you. Your family's gone," said Albert.

David stood up and punched him in the face. Knocking him to the ground. Then he drew his gun and pointed it at the man.

"David, don't," said Gwen.

"I told you – you should've killed me when you had the chance," said Albert.

David wanted to kill him. But, he couldn't. Snow wouldn't want it that way. He lowered his arm and turned to look at the fire. He fell to his knees. Gwen knelt next to him and comforted her brother.

* * *

A short time later, David, Gwen and Ruby were back at the loft and watching Henry sleep, "He may never see his mother or grandmother again. How are we going to break that news to him?" asked Gwen.

"You won't have to," said Ruby.

"Travel between worlds is as hard as it comes," said David, "Fairy dust on its own isn't enough. It took an entire curse to get us here in the first place. Without the hat…"

"You two'll find another way," said Ruby.

"You don't know that," said Gwen.

"But I know you two," said Ruby, "And I know you two'll never give up until you do," said Ruby.

Ruby, Gwen and David hugged and then David said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Ruby, then she turned to leave, "Oh, could one of you give Granny a call?"

"Sure," said Gwen, as they followed her to the door, "Why? What for?"

"I may have left Belle chained up in the library. Somebody should probably…"

"Unchain her?" asked David.

"Yeah," said Ruby.

"Yeah, we'll take care of it," said Gwen.

"Thanks."

"Where are you going?" asked David.

"I've still got a few hours of Wolfstime left," said Ruby, "You helped me regain control. I want to do something I haven't done in a very long time."

"What's that?"

Ruby handed David her hood, "Run," said she said. Then, she ran out of the door and down the stairs. The two of them smiled as they heard a howl outside.

 **AN:** **If you like this story, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	9. Into the Deep

**AN: This chapter was posted on October 2** **nd** **, 2017, the day of the Las Vegas Shooting. This chapter is dedicated to everyone who was personally affected by this tragedy. This chapter combines "Into the Deep" and "Queen of Hearts"**

Into the Deep

At the Mary Margaret and Emma's loft in Storybrooke, Henry woke up yelling, "They're… They're alive. They're alive!"

Regina, David, and Gwen were all asleep near Henry's bed. David had left Henry in Regina's care while they were dealing with Albert. She told them that Gold said his dreams were a side effect of the sleeping curse and gave him an amulet to protect him while he slept. "Who? Who's alive?" asked Gwen, as she and David moved over to the bed.

"My mom and Snow."

"I told you, kid. I told you!" said David.

"Was… Was it that woman you saw?" asked Regina, "Did she tell you this?"

"Her name's Aurora," said Henry, "She said they have a way home, but there's someone in their way – someone they need us to help them stop. Someone only Mr. Gold knows how to defeat."

"Who?"

"Your mother."

PGJR

Regina went and talked to Gold about what Henry told them and he agreed to help. Gwen and David took Henry to Gold's shop and Henry got ready to lay down on a bed in the back. Regina came in with a blanket, "I brought your blanket… from your bedroom back home," said Regina as she put the blanket over Henry.

"Thanks," said Henry. He looked over at Mr. Gold, "So, Cora… She's pretty powerful?"

"Yes, but, uh, not as powerful as I am," said Mr. Gold.

"Debatable," said Regina.

"Actually, no, it's not."

"You sure you're okay to do this, kid?" asked David.

"I was born to do this," said Henry, "I'm done reading about heroes. I want to be one."

"Well, sometimes being one is knowing when not to run into the fire," said Gwen.

"I'll be okay."

"Look, whatever he faces in there, will be far less dangerous than what he'll face if we fail," said Mr. Gold.

"I can do this," said Henry.

"Get on with it. Fast," said David.

"Alright, Henry," said Mr. Gold, "Just relax. And soon, you're going to drift off."

"What do I tell them?" asked Henry.

"Just listen to my bedtime story, and all will be clear." Mr. Gold sat next to Henry's bed and placed his hand on Henry's forehead, "Once upon a time, Snow White and Prince Charming needed to stun a very powerful magician, long enough to lock him up in a dark dungeon."

"That was you. They used Cinderella to trap you with a magic quill."

Gold moved his hand across Henry's face, causing him to fall asleep, "Yes, indeed a quill. And yet, it wasn't the quill itself, but the ink that captured the Dark One – harvested from the rarest species of squid, from the bottom of a bottomless ocean. Impossible to find, unless, you're a mermaid… Or me. I happen to have a private supply. In my jail cell… That is where they will find it."

PGJR

A short time later, Henry woke up from his dream, with a gasp. David and Gwen rushed to his side, "Henry. Are you alright?" David asked.

"Did you see her?" asked Gold, "Did you tell her?"

"No. I… I didn't get the chance," said Henry, "Something… Something happened. She… She got sucked out of there."

They could all see that Henry was in pain, "Henry?" asked Regina.

"Some… Something's wrong," said Henry.

Regina pulled back Henry's sleeve, and they saw a burn, "Henry…"

Regina started to tend to Henry's burn, "Here. Let me take care of this," said Gold. Then he used his magic to heal Henry's burn.

"What did this?" asked Gwen.

"When you venture deeper into the Netherworld instead of away, there are risks. Someone woke Aurora before her soul was ready to return. The violence of that act tore her away and injured Henry. We're lucky it wasn't worse. He's going to need some time to recover before he can be sent back."

"Out of the question," said Regina.

"No way," said Gwen.

"Not a chance in hell," said David, "We'd be monsters to even consider risking his life again."

"Careful with your tone, Charming," said Gold, "I understand your concern for the boy, but I know Cora. Without our help, Snow and Emma will soon be dead. And then… A true monster will be on her way to Storybrooke."

"Aurora is gone," said Regina, "Why do we need to send Henry back to that fiery inferno with no one there to receive our message?"

There was a pause then David got an idea, "Because someone will be there."

"Who?"

"Snow."

"That's a pretty big assumption, David," said Gwen.

"No. No, it's not," said David, "She was there once before. She can go back. She can find a way. She will – I know it. And I'll be waiting."

"You're going to this Netherworld?" asked Regina.

"I faced you. How bad could it be?"

"It's not as simple as that," said Gold, "You can't get there. You haven't been under a sleeping curse."

"Well, then put me under one," said David.

"If we do that, there's a chance you might never waken up."

"Sure I will. When I see her, she'll kiss me, and I'll be fine. Now, put me under. I've spent far too much time looking for my wife. It is time to bring her home."

A short while later, Regina had made up a sleeping curse and David helpped Gold bring a spinning wheel into the back room. "We are going to do this the old-fashioned way."

"What do you mean, the old-fashioned way?" asked David.

"You're about to join a quite distinguished club, Mr. Nolan," said Gold, "Before such innovations as the apple, back when the sleeping curse first came to be, a more direct method was required… Through blood. By pricking one's finger on the needle of a spinning wheel, one falls under the spell." He looked over at Regina, "Your Majesty, you did his wife. I'm sure you'd like the honors."

Gold handed Regina the needle. She dipped the end of the needle into the sleeping curse, then she placed it back onto the wheel, she looked over at David and said, "It's all yours." Then she stepped aside.

Gwen and Henry stepped forward, "Good luck," said Henry as he gave David a hug.

Gwen gave her brother a hug, "Be careful," she said.

"It's going to be alright," said David.

"How do you know?" asked Henry.

"Well… How did you know Emma would save you after you ate the turnover?"

"I… I believed in her."

"The way Snow and I believed she'd come back to break the curse. That's the kind of faith that runs in our family."

Henry took the necklace from around his neck and gave it to David, "This helps control the flames in the room. It'll keep you safe."

"I will guard it with my life," said David.

David sat down next to the spinning wheel and stared at the needle, as Mr. Gold spun the spinning wheel, "When I awake, I'll be in that fiery room?" asked David.

"Not exactly," said Gold, as he stopped the wheel, "That room is where those who've already awoken from the curse return. You, however, are being put under for the first time."

"Then how will I know where to go? How the hell am I supposed to find a room with no door?"

"And that, dearie, is the conundrum we're all depending on you solving. Now, I say this with the utmost sincerity… Good luck."

Mr. Gold spun the spinning wheel. Then, David pricked his finger on the needle and he passed out. Gwen and Gold carried David over to the bed and laid him down. The three adults and Henry waited for David to wake up. After several minutes Henry spoke up, "Come on… Come back. Should he be in there so long?"

"I'm sure it's fine," said Regina, "I imagine they're just catching up." Regina looked at Gold he just shook his head. Gwen looked down at her brother. She hoped this all worked.

PGJR

Gold and Regina went to the front of the shop to talk while Gwen and Henry stayed in back. Henry took out his storybook and started to read the Snow White story to him. Regina walked in and said, "I think this time, it'll happen the other way around."

"You think so?" asked Henry.

"I do. Which is why I need you and Gwen to stay here and watch David for a little while."

"Where are you going?" asked Gwen.

"Gold and I need to prepare for Emma and Mary Margaret's return," said Regina, "Coming through the portal won't be easy. We need to make sure everything's in place."

"Really? You're really going to help them?"

"I promised Henry I was going to do better… to be better," said Regina. She looked down at Henry, "So, yes, I'm going to do everything in my power to see to it they come home safely."

"Wow. You really have changed," said Henry.

Regina smiled slightly, "Be back as soon as I can." She gave him a kiss on the forehead and left.

Gwen watched as Regina left… Something didn't see right to her.

PGJR

While Gwen was at Gold's, Fallon and Tamera were on duty at the Sherriff's Station. They got a call to the mine. When they got there they saw Leroy looking at the celling, "Leroy! What is it? What's the emergency?" asked Fallon. Leroy just kept looking up, "Leroy."

He looked at the two deputies, "They're gone. They're all gone," he said.

Fallon and Tamera looked up and the diamonds that covered the celling of the mine were gone.

Tamera, Fallon and the dwarves headed to Mr. Gold's shop. They went in the back and they found Henry reading to David from the book, "Where are they?" asked Fallon, "Regina and Gold."

"What's going on?" asked Gwen.

"All the magic has been drained from the mines," said Tamera.

"They stole it?" asked Henry.

"They snuck in after our shift and took everything," said Leroy, "Nobody steals from a dwarf!"

"Except the Queen," said Doc

"…And Rumpelstiltskin," added Happy.

"If they're not helping Emma and Mary Margaret that… That means my mom lied to me," said Henry.

"I'm sorry, Henry," said Gwen.

"We need to find her," said Henry, "We need to stop them. We need to help Emma and Mary Margaret."

Gwen nodded. She looked at the dwarves, "Guys, you stay here with David. Tamera, Call Ruby we're going to need her help..."

PGJR

Gwen, Tamera, Fallon, Ruby and Henry found Mr. Gold and Regina out by the old wishing well, "You're not helping Emma and Mary Margaret, are you?" asked Henry

"I'm helping you, Henry," said Regina.

"What are you talking about?" said Gwen.

"You're going to kill them," said Tamera.

The four adults went to make a move toward Mr. Gold and Regina. Mr. Gold waved his hand "Sorry, dearies." and blasted them back, knocking them out.

Gwen, Tamera, Fallon and Ruby came to. They looked and saw Emma and Mary Margaret with Henry and Regina. Gold was slinking away. "What's going on? What happened?" asked Mary Margaret.

"She saved you," said Henry as he looked back at Regina, "She saved both of you."

"Thank you," said Emma.

"You're welcome," said Regina.

Ruby, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon rushed over to them and Ruby asked, "Are you okay?"

The two of them hugged, Then Mary Margaret said, "Where's my husband? I need to find him."

"Don't worry, Mare," said Gwen, "David's back at Mr. Gold's" he smiled, "The Dwarfs are guarding him. Come on…"

Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamera, Fallon and Ruby headed off.

PGJR

Mary Margaret, Ruby, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon entered the back room of Gold's shop, with Emma and Henry trailing behind. David was lying on the bed with the dwarves gathered around the bed., "David?" said Mary Margaret, as she walked up to him.

She knelt down next to him and kissed him. There was a pulse of magic and David woke up and gasped, "You… You did it."

"Did you ever doubt I would?" asked Mary Margaret.

"No," said David, they kissed again and he said, "Though the burning red room did give me pause." Mary Margaret laughed slightly and they kissed again.

PGJR

Emma walked back into the back room after talking with Gold in front part of the shop. Snow and David walked up to her, "Emma…" said Snow.

"Looks like we have some catching up to do," said David.

"You have no idea," said Emma.

"How about dinner at Granny's? On me," said Ruby.

"As long as it's not Chimera, I'm in," said Emma. She looked over at Henry who was with Regina, "Hey, kid. You hungry?"

"Yeah," said Henry. Henry broke away from Regina and joined Emma. Then, everyone else started to leave, "I'll see you later." He said to Regina.

Snow, David, Emma, Henry, Gwen, Tamera, Fallon, Ruby and the Dwarfs were happily walking down the main street of Storybrooke to Granny's Diner. Little did they know that there was a ship coming close to Storybrooke Harbor. On board were Hook and Cora.

 **AN: Remember, if you like this story. Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	10. The Cricket Game

The Cricket Game

The next night, a small group was gathered at Granny's for a welcome home potluck for Mary Margaret and Emma. Mary Margaret, David, Emma, and Henry came in and the group already inside cheered. Emma and David were each carrying pans with food.

Ruby came up to Mary Margaret and hugged her friend, "I wasn't worried a bit."

"I can tell," said Mary Margaret.

"Oh, we all missed you," said Archie as he and Gwen, Tamera and Fallon hugged her.

Emma handed Granny the pan of food she brought in, "Tacos," said Emma, "I cannot tell you the relief of cooking something that I didn't have to kill first."

"Don't I know it," said Granny, "Meat loaf back home? What a bitch."

David tapped his glass with a fork and said "I just wanted to, uh, thank you all for joining us tonight. Mary Margaret and I – we have a saying… That we will always find each other. And, while I believe that with all my heart, I'd like you all to raise your glasses and join me when I say… Here's to not having to look for a while." Everyone in the room laughed then David raised he glass, "To Mary Margaret and Emma!"

Everyone clinked glasses and cheered, just then Regina walked in with a casserole dish, "Sorry I'm late."

"What is she doing here?" asked Fallon.

"I invited her," said Emma, as Regina set her dish down on the counter. Mary Margaret pulled her daughter to the side along with David and Gwen, "We're celebrating today because of Regina," said Emma, "She helped us get home. No matter what she did in the past, we owe her our thanks now."

"Didn't you think to tell us about it?" asked Mary Margaret.

"I did, but you and David were a little busy this afternoon," said Emma.

"Emma, she tried to kill us – yesterday!" said Mary Margaret.

"No, she didn't," said Emma, "She's trying to change for Henry. He believes in her. And, right now, that's enough for me. I couldn't have changed if I wasn't given a chance, so… She gets one, too."

Mary Margaret, David and Gwen looked at each other and they all gave a slight nod in agreement. The rest of the night went without incident. Although, Regina was the first one to leave, Emma tried to convince her to stay but Regina told Emma she had to be going.

The next day, Archie and Gwen were taking Pongo for a walk at the docks. They saw Regina walking toward them and Archie said, "Beautiful day, isn't it, Regina?"

"Why should I answer you, bug?" said Regina, very curtly.

"He was just trying to make friendly conversation, Regina" said Gwen.

"That he'll just repeat to anyone with an ear," said Regina. She looked at Archie, "You told Miss Swan about our sessions."

Archie sighed, "I was simply trying to help you."

"By betraying my trust?"

"I… I mentioned only that you had come to see me, as an example of your commitment to change."

"I came to you in confidence. How am I supposed to prove to people I've changed, when you're there to chirp in their ears and remind them of my past?" asked Regina. She looked at Gwen, "I bet you told your little girlfriend all about what I've said."

Gwen was shocked, "Archie doesn't tell me anything about anyone he sees."

"I would never betray the doctor-patient confidentiality," said Archie.

"'Doctor?'" asked Regina, "Doctor?! Need I remind you got your PhD from a curse?"

Just then, Ruby ran up, "Hey! Is everything okay here?"

"Private conversation," said Regina, "Go take yourself for a walk."

Ruby looked at Gwen, "It's fine, Ruby…" said Gwen. Then Ruby left.

Archie looked at Regina and said, "I can be trusted. I assure you."

Regina looked Archie dead in the eye, "You're lucky I've changed."

PGJR

The next day, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon stopped at Granny's to get some breakfast before heading to the office when Emma and Henry came out. "Hey guys," said Gwen.

"Hey," said Henry and Emma.

Just then they heard a dog barking. They turned and saw Archie's Dalmatian, Pongo run into the front courtyard. "Hey, Pongo," said Henry, as he went to pet the dog but he kept barking, "It's okay. It's okay."

Gwen looked around, "Where's Archie?"

Just then Ruby came out of Granny's "Emma, something's wrong."

"How do you know? Never mind. The wolf thing," said Emma, "You know what? Eleven is old enough to walk to the bus stop. I'll pick you up later."

"Okay," Henry left.

Then, Pongo ran across the street to Archie's office. Emma, Gwen, Tamera, Fallon and Ruby followed Pongo down the hall to Archie's office to the door of Archie's office. The door was open slightly, "Archie?" asked Emma as she knocked on the door. They walked in. They saw Archie lying on the floor, "Oh, hell." She said as she knelt down next to him.

"What? What is it?" asked Gwen, as the others walked in. Gwen saw her boyfriend on the floor and gasped, "Archie!"

Emma was checking his pulse. Then, she looked up at the others. Emma didn't have to say anything. They could tell by the look on Emma's face that Archie was gone. "No… No…" said Gwen, as she started to cry. Tamera and Fallon comforted their friend.

"Who would do this?" asked Emma.

"I think I know," said Ruby.

"Who?" asked Emma.

"Regina…"

"What?" asked Gwen.

Ruby looked at Gwen, "Yesterday, I saw you, Archie and Regina arguing down by the docks," said Ruby, she looked at Emma, "Then, last night. When I was closing, I saw Regina going into Archie's office."

Emma looked at her deputies, "I'll call David to bring her in for questioning," said Fallon.

She stepped into the hall. Emma walked up to Gwen and Tamera. "Gwen... Because of how close you were to Archie. I think it would be best if you take a few days off."

Gwen nodded, "I'll take her home," said Tamera. Gwen and Tamera then headed out the door.

PGJR

A short time later, Regina was sitting in the interrogation room at the Sheriff's Station. When Emma and David walked in. Mary Margaret and Fallon watched from behind the one-way mirror. When Regina saw Emma and David walk in, "Glad to see the Sheriff's Station's now a family business." said Regina. Then, she looked at Emma, "Why am I here?"

"You know why you're here. Because of Archie," said Emma, as she walked up to the table. David stood at the back of the room by the one-way mirror.

"Oh, it's now against the law to get into an argument with someone?" asked Regina.

"It is if you go to their office later that night and kill them," said David

There was a long pause and Regina looked shocked, "Archie's dead?" she asked.

"Stop it, Regina," said David, "Ruby saw you going into his office last night."

"Then she's lying. I was home all evening," said Regina. She looked up at Emma and said, "After everything I've done to change, to win Henry back, why would I toss it all away now? And, if I did and I was going to kill Archie, you would never know it. The fact that he's dead and you caught me shows sloppiness."

As she was speaking David stepped forward, "You've been caught before." said David, "Come on, Emma. Who do you think's lying – Ruby, or her? She's incapable of change, no matter how many times we've given her the chance." Then David looked at Regina, "Why should this time be any different?"

PGJR

Emma and David walked out of the interrogation room, "So what do we do with her now?" asked Mary Margaret, as she continued to look at Regina, as she sat in the interrogation room.

"Lock her up," said Fallon.

"We can't lock her up, because she didn't do it," said Emma. Mary Margaret turned to face her daughter.

"You really believe her?" asked David.

"I watched her when we told her Archie was dead. She didn't know."

"Emma," said Mary Margaret, "I know that you want to believe that Regina can change for Henry, but…"

"I know what I saw," Emma interrupted, "Look at her in there. The old Regina would've reduced this building to ashes. That's a woman who wants to change. She just wants everyone else to see it. I know that look. I know her. I believe her."

"With all due respect, you don't know her like we do," said Fallon.

"Maybe that's the problem," said Emma, "I know in the Enchanted Forest, she was the Evil Queen. But here, she's Regina. And I'm still the Sheriff, and I say she's innocent until proven guilty."

"So… Uh, what do you suggest we do?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Let her go."

"Emma, sh…" David started to say.

"We let her go," said Emma, "and then we find the truth."

PGJR

Emma, David, Fallon and Mary Margaret went to Archie's office and started to look for evidence. David was looking through the filing cabinet and came upon Regina's file, "Huh," he said, "Regina's file... it's empty."

"So, she did it," said Mary Margaret, "She killed the kindest soul in this town. A man who only cared about helping."

"I promise we'll find whoever really did this," said Emma.

"Maybe we already have?" said Fallon, "Regina had a fight with Archie, Ruby saw her outside last night, and now, her file is empty. That's a lot of evidence."

"Maybe that's the point."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know how it is in fairy tale land, but in the real world, it's usually hard to find evidence. But this has been way too easy. Unless, someone wants us to find evidence."

"What? So, you think she was framed?" asked Mary Margaret

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time that happened in this town," said Emma.

"Who would want to frame her?" asked David.

"That's a long list, present company included," said Fallon.

"Yeah. But there's only one name on that list that would resort to killing to get what they want," said Emma.

Emma, Mary Margaret, David and Fallon walked in Gold's shop just he and Belle were going to eat lunch. "Ah… Nothing warms the heart more than a family reunited," said Gold, "You have your mother's chin, Miss Swan."

"We know that you killed him," said Emma.

"And your father's tact."

"Someone's dead?" asked Belle.

"Dr. Hopper," said Fallon.

"Why on earth would you think I had anything to do with that?" asked Gold.

"Because all the evidence points to Regina," said Emma.

"And she's not possibly capable of doing something so vile?" asked Belle.

"It's a frame job."

"It wouldn't be the first time you used someone to try to hurt her," said Mary Margaret.

"Nice to see your memory's still intact, dearie," said Gold, "But this time, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you. It wasn't me."

"Why should we believe you?" asked David.

"Because I can prove it," said Mr. Gold, "Ask the witness."

"No one was there," said Giselle.

"Well, that's not strictly true now, is it?"

A little while later, David brought Pongo into the back room of Gold's shop. Mr. Gold went to pet him, "Hey, boy. Good boy. Good boy, good boy."

"I, uh… I didn't know you were such a dog person," said Belle.

"Well… A long time ago, in another life, I got to know a sheepdog or two."

"That's fascinating," said Emma, "But unless you speak dog, how is Pongo going to tell us anything?"

"Through magic, of course," said Gold as he stood back up, "It won't allow us to communicate, but it will allow us to… Extract his memories."

"Extract?" asked David.

"You don't have to worry. He won't feel a thing."

"Why should we trust you?" asked Emma, "Couldn't you just as easily use magic to fool us?"

"Because I'm not going to be the one using magic – you are," said Mr. Gold.

"Me? How?"

Gold walked over to one of his cupboards, "You have it within you. Told me so yourself." He looked over at Mary Margaret, "You witnessed it, didn't you?"

"Emma, you don't have to do this," said Mary Margaret.

"If it tells us something about Archie's death, then so be it."

Gold took out a dream catcher and held it up, "Do you know what this is?"

"A dream catcher," said Emma.

"Well… It's capable of catching so much more," Gold slowly ran the dream catcher along Pongo's back, and it started to glow a bright yellow.

"What is that?" asked Belle.

"Memories. Now, Miss Swan," he handed it to Emma, "You show us how."

"How? It's just a jumble."

"Will it. Will it, and we shall all see."

Emma took the dream catcher, held it in front of her and concentrated on the jumbled swirl of magic in the middle, but nothing happened, "I can't."

"Yes, you can."

Emma briefly closed her eyes. And the jumble transform into an image. "Emma," said David, "You're doing it."

They watched as Archie let Regina into his office, "Regina," said Emma.

Then they saw Regina grab Archie's neck. Mary Margaret was horrified by what she saw and turned away. Emma saw enough she dropped the dream catcher and let it fall to the floor, Emma looked at her parents, "You were right all along."

"I'm sorry, Emma," said David.

PGJR

Emma rushed out of the shop with David, Mary Margaret and Fallon behind her, "Emma! Wait. Where are you going?" asked David

"To get Regina," said Emma.

"Well, can we talk about this?" asked Mary Margaret.

"What's there to talk about? She killed Archie, now she's got to pay."

"Emma, how do you plan on doing that?" asked Fallon, "She has her powers back here."

"Yeah, well, you just saw what happened. So do I," said Emma.

"Yeah," said David, as he grabbed his daughter's arm and forced her to look at him, "You have something, but you didn't even know what the hell to do with it. And now, you're going to go take on the most powerful woman in town?"

"Excuse me. Weren't you the ones who've been pushing on the 'it's Regina' kick the whole time? You should be happy you were right."

"We may be right," said Fallon, "but we also know that going after her without a plan is a mistake."

"So what do we do?" asked Emma.

"Even if the dwarves construct a cell to hold her, we need a way to contain her magic until then," said David.

"Fairy dust," said Mary Margaret, "Leroy said they were processing a new batch of it."

"Will that stop her power?" asked Emma.

"It has before," said Fallon, "The problem is, she'll see us coming."

"Leave that to me. Trust me – we're locking her up," said Emma.

PGJR

A short time later, they were all in front of Regina's house. Emma knocked on the door and Regina answered, "Miss Swan. I assume you're here to apologize."

"We saw you do it," said Emma.

"What?"

"I saw it," said Emma, "You choked the life out of Archie."

"What are you talking about?" asked Regina, "How is that even possible?"

"Magic," said David.

"You-"

"I saw what happened, and it was you," said Emma.

"Gold," said Regina, "He helped you. You're going to trust him, of all people, when he's probably the one behind this?"

"We didn't trust him," said Mary Margaret.

"That's why Emma used magic instead," said Fallon.

Regina looked at Emma, "You can use magic… The savior. Of course. Well, I can only assume he warned you, then."

"About what?" asked Emma.

"That magic always comes with a price."

"Yeah? Well, that's a price we're both going to pay."

"How's that?"

"Henry. He believed in you. His heart's going to break. That's both our prices."

"No. I will not let you poison Henry against me."

"It's an interesting word choice, since you already did."

The group started to leave and Regina followed them down the walkway, "I want to see him. He deserves to hear my side of the story! He's my son!"

"He's not!" said Emma as she turned back around, "He's mine! And, after this, you're not getting anywhere near him! Do it!"

Just then Mother Superior appeared from behind a tree and fired a blast of blue magic at Regina. But, she saw it coming and stopped it. She looked at Fallon, David and Mary Margaret, "Did you really think that would work again?" Then she casually threw the ball of magic on the ground near their feet. Regina looked at Emma, "You… You will not keep my son from me." She threw Emma back with magic. Mary Margaret ran up to help her daughter up, "So much for fairy dust. Maybe some of your newfound magic can save you now."

"I don't need it," said Emma, "I already won. There is no way Henry will swallow your lies about Archie now. You can pretend all you want, but we know how you are, and who you will always be." Regina didn't say another word, she disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

 **AN: Remember, if you like this story. Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	11. The Outsider

The Outsider

A couple days later, several Storybrooke residents were gathered around a casket and a tombstone. It read 'Archibald Hopper – Friend and Conscience'. Mary Margaret stood in front of the crowd to give the eulogy, "Some of us knew him as Archie. Others, as Jiminy. But we all knew him as a true friend. And though, he may now be gone, he will always live on inside of us. Reminding us to be our best selves, to do the right thing, to always fight for what we believe in. So, we shouldn't think of today as goodbye, just as a way of saying… Archie, we'll be listening."

After the funeral was over, Marco and Gwen walked up to the tombstone and laid Archie's umbrella against it, "I miss you so much, my friend." said Marco, "Well, at least… You are in a better place."

Gwen placed a rose on the tombstone, "I love you, Archie." she kissed the fingers on her right and placed it on the tombstone.

* * *

A little while later, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon watched Emma offer Henry a Pop Tart as he sat on Mary Margaret's bed, just looking out the window. He turned it down. Emma set it on the bed then walked over to her mother, her aunt and friends, "Well, that went well." said Emma.

"Emma, you're doing all you can do," said Mary Margaret.

"That's what makes me feel awful."

Just then, Leroy walked up to them, "Ladies? The dwarves have been thinking. We have to ask – when do we go back?"

"Back? Where?" asked Gwen.

"The Enchanted Forest. Our home."

"You want to go back?" asked Mary Margaret.

"We fought really hard to get here," said Emma.

"But with what Regina did to Archie, Storybrooke ain't as safe as we thought," said Leroy.

"We're going to find her," said Emma, "There's only so many places she can hide."

"We've dealt with her before, we'll do it again," said Fallon.

"But it's not just her," said Leroy, " The curse is broken. There's a whole world full of people beyond the town line that don't know who or what we are. Ever think of what might happen if one of them were to come pay us a visit?"

"He's right," said Ruby, "What if they see, you know, magic? Like a girl turning into a wolf, for example? People weren't exactly understanding back in our world."

"Okay, let's not worry about 'what ifs'" said Emma, "No one is here."

"Yet," said Leroy, "Maybe they come, maybe they don't. But that doesn't change the fact that while we might enjoy things like penicillin, we're a bit homesick."

* * *

Later that day, David and Mary Margaret were washing dishes at the loft. Gwen was helping them clean up. David walked up to his sister, "How are you doing?"

Gwen sighed, "Better... I'm taking things one day at a time." He gave her a hug and

They saw Henry sitting on Mary Margaret's bed. They saw Henry on the phone, "Who's he calling?" asked David.

Mary Margaret picked up the extension, and they heard Archie's voice on his office answering machine, "You've reached the office of Archibald Hopper. I'm sorry I can't take your call right now. I'm either with a patient-"

"Or dead," said Henry as he hung up the phone.

Gwen walked over and sat down next to him on the bed, "It'll be okay, Henry. Things will get better, I promise. You just… got to hang in there."

"Doesn't feel that way," said Henry.

"I know. I know."

Just then, Pongo came in and rushed over to Henry, "Pongo!" He said.

"How did he get in here?" asked Gwen.

"I brought him," said Emma as she came in, "Marco and I had a chat. Archie knew how much Henry loves this dog. We decided he should have him. If that's fine with you, Gwen?"

Gwen smiled, "Archie would be fine with it and that'd good enough for me." Then she looked at Henry, "That is, if you're up for taking care of him."

"Yeah, I am!" said Henry.

They saw the trail of mud Pongo brought in.

"Henry, why don't you take Pongo outside and clean him up?" asked Emma.

"Okay. Come on. Come on, boy! Come on! Let's go! Come on, boy," said Henry as him and Pongo left.

Gwen smiled and stood up, "I'll go give him a hand." Then Gwen walked out.

* * *

A little later, Henry was sitting a the table drawing while Pongo was lying near his feet. Gwen and Emma walked over and Emma asked, "You plotting your escape from Shawshank, kid?"

"No, they're blueprints," said Henry, "I had some ideas for what to do if David and Mary Margaret move out. Look."

They looked over the blueprints and Gwen asked, "You want to make Mary Margaret's room an armory?"

"Yeah. You know, for weapons and stuff. To protect me and Mom... from Regina."

"She's not going to hurt you," said Emma, "I'm not going to let her."

"She hurt Archie. What if she wants to take me back?" asked Henry.

"That's not going to happen," said Gwen. Just then then there was a knock on the door and Pongo became excited, "Pongo? What is it?" She and Emma went over to the door and they were shocked when he saw Archie, alive, on the other side, "Archie…"

"Gwen," said Archie. The two of them hugged and kissed. Tears of joy started to fall down Gwen's cheeks.

"Please tell me your real," said Gwen.

"I'm here, Gwenevere..." said Archie.

"What happened?" asked Emma.

"It was Cora," said Archie as he and Gwen broke there embrace, "She kidnapped me."

"Archie?" said Henry as she walked over.

"Henry," The two of them hugged, "Oh, it's alright. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"Henry," said Emma, "We were wrong. Regina didn't do it."

"I knew it. Maybe we should let her know," said Henry.

"Yeah. But something tells me, either way, we're going to pay the price." said Emma. Just then Emma's phone rang, "Sheriff Swan… OK… All right… We'll be right there."

Gwen looked at her niece, "What's up?"

"There's been some kind of accident at the town line, we've got to go," said Emma. She looked at Archie, "Can you watch Henry?"

"Of course," said Archie.

"Come on Gwen..."

Gwen gave Archie a kiss. She didn't want to leave but duty called, "I love you..."

Archie smiled, "I love you, too..." Then Gwen and Emma headed out. Emma called David and Gwen called Tamera and Fallon.

* * *

When they got to the town line, Emma, David and Mary Margaret arrived one squad car while Gwen, Fallon and Tamera came in the other, they saw Gold holding an injured Belle. Another man was unconscious at the side of the road, he had a hook for a hand. There was also crashed car on the side of the road with a man inside.

"What are you?!" They heard Belle shout at Mr. Gold.

"Are you okay?" asked David, as he, Fallon and Mary Margaret went over to Belle and Gold.

"I'm at the town line," said Emma, on her cellphone, "Two people down, maybe three. There's a car – pretty banged up with Pennsylvania plates."

"What's going on?" asked Fallon

"She crossed over the line. She doesn't remember," said Gold.

Emma, Gwen and Tamera went over to the man with the hook for a hand. He was now conscious and looked up at Emma, "Hey, beautiful. Here, I didn't think you'd notice,"

"You know him?" asked Gwen.

"Yeah... Mary Margaret and I met him in the Enchanted Forest... Meet Captain Hook..." Mary Margaret and Emma told them all about how Hook had been working with Cora in the Enchanted Forest. Obviously, he was how she got to Storybrooke. Emma leaned down and pushed on his ribs. He yelled out in pain and she said, "Your ribs are broken."

"Oh, that must be why it hurts when I laugh," said Hook. He looked over at Gold, "Did you see his face? His one true love, gone in an instant! Just like Milah, crocodile!" Gold walked toward Hook and Hook said, "When you took her from me…"

"But you took her first," said Gold. Then, he kicked Hook in the face and lunged at him, pressing his cane against Hook's neck.

"Gold, are you insane?!" asked Tamera.

"Yes, I am!" said Gold.

David and Fallon rushed over to help Gwen up to pull Gold off of Hook "You can't do that!" said Fallon.

"I can if you let me go."

"You don't want her to see that," said Tamera, as she pointed over to Belle.

"I'm a stranger to her," said Gold.

"Murder is a bad first impression," said Emma.

"What would Belle want you to do?" asked David

Just then they heard the ambulance arrive, distracting Gold long enough for David to pull him off of Hook.

"Over here!" called David.

The paramedics head over to them but then Emma saw the other car, "No! Him! Take care of him. He can wait."

Mary Margaret and Belle walked over, "What?" she asked.

"There's someone in there."

"Stay," Mary Margaret said to Belle, "I'll be right back."

Emma, Gwen, Fallon, Tamera, David and Mary Margaret watched as the paramedics checked on the unconscious driver of the car.

"Do you know this guy?" asked Emma.

"I've never seen him before," said Gwen.

"That's because he drove into town," said David.

"From the outside?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Looks like the world just came to Storybrooke," said Emma.

* * *

Hook and the driver of the car were wheeled into the hospital on stretchers by the paramedics, while the rest of the group from the accident site follow behind them, "Car versus pedestrian," said one of the paramedics, "Chest trauma from the wheel. Pedestrian's got contusions, broken ribs."

"Go to X-ray," said the attending nurse, "Pedestrian first."

"Hide him," said Emma.

"What?"

Emma pointed at Hook, "Find a room and hide him,"

Just then Gold came in, "Belle. What's going on?"

David blocked him, "Get him out of here!"

"Well, what's happening? Belle!"

"I'd like to know that myself," said Leroy.

"Belle! Belle!"

Just then, Dr. Whale walked in, "Everybody, calm down!" he looked at Gold, "Mr. Gold. Everything will be fine. She's in good hands here. I promise."

* * *

Mary Margaret, David, Gwen, Fallon, Tamera, Ruby and Leroy were the lobby of the hospital with the driver's cell phone while Emma talked to Hook, "We've got to get into his phone," said Leroy.

"Let me guess another pass code," said David as he took the phone from Mary Margaret.

"You can't guess. There are a million possible combinations," said Mary Margaret.

"Ten-thousand," said Ruby.

"Ten-thousand."

"Leroy, can you get it open or something? Hack it?" said Tamera.

"Well, you do understand that computer hacking and pickaxe hacking are different," said Leroy.

Just then Emma, walked up. "Here, let me," said Emma, as she took the phone from David, "I have a thing," Emma plugged a hacking device in the phone. "And we do know something. There was stuff in his car – rental agreement, maps, receipts. His name is Greg Mendell." Emma got into the phone and started to look through it, "Pictures of him alone at a bunch of Eastern Seaboard tourist locations, a LinkedIn account, and he tweets pictures of his food. I'll keep looking, but I think what we have here is a well-documented, real-life ordinary Joe. Or Greg."

"So, whatever's kept random people from stumbling into Storybrooke for the last twenty-eight years..." said Gwen.

"Is gone," said Mary Margaret.

"Anyone could drive in," said David, "Why are my instincts telling me that's a bad thing?"

"Cause you've seen E.T., or Splash, or any other movie where they find something magical and study it to death," said Leroy, "Think what'd they do to a werewolf."

"Oh, and his friends and family?" said Mary Margaret, "They're going to come looking for him soon."

"Let's try not to overreact," said Emma.

"Leroy's right," said Fallon, "We don't need outsiders here."

"Hook says he doesn't know where Cora is, and God knows what she's going to do," said Emma, "With other people coming here, that's not going to be good for anyone."

"We need to find Regina," said Mary Margaret, "and tell her we know she was framed."

"I've been tracking her. No luck. She's gone underground," said Ruby.

"What if Cora finds her first?" asked Mary Margaret, "I don't want to think about the damage those two would do together. This could not have come at a worse time."

"It's okay. The guy's being patched up right now," said Emma, "He'll probably be on his way home by morning."

Just then, Dr. Whale walked up, "Not quite. He's bleeding into his chest cavity. It's not a full flood, you know. But, pretty soon, he'll be drowning in his own blood."

"So make it stop. Aren't you a doctor?"

Just then, Dr. Whale saw Gold walking down the stairs, "Gold," the doctor walked up to Gold, "You fixed me. Now fix him. It will take you seconds and cost you nothing."

"No," said Gold.

"No? Just… No?"

"I owe you nothing, Whale. I owe none of you anything. And some of you, owe me. So, yeah, just… No. Oh, and point of interest – the driver? He saw me throwing some magic. So, instead of trying to get him out of here, you better be hoping he dies. Because if he doesn't, he's going to be driving tour buses up and down main street. So glad I don't give a damn," then Gold walked away.

Dr. Whale turned back to the group, "Look… Letting him die is easy. I can do that, if that's what you decide."

"Let's take this somewhere private," said Emma.

They walked into a supply room and Dr. Whale said, "It's not really murder if we let him succumb to his injuries."

"I'm pretty sure it is," said Emma.

"Of course we save him," said Mary Margaret.

"Obviously," said David.

"Well…" said Fallon.

"Fallon!" scolded Mary Margaret.

"If we save him and kill the whole town, is that really better?"

"So we have to choose between our lives and his," said Tamera.

"We can worry about the town later," said Gwen.

"Which doesn't mean we should abandon him," said Mary Margaret.

"I know, but let's worry about Storybrooke after we save a life. Dr. Whale, prep for surgery," Said David. Dr. Whale nodded and left.

"Anyone else notice he's drunk off his ass?" asked Mary Margaret.

Suddenly, the Star Wars theme started to come from Greg's phone, "Someone's looking for Greg," said Emma, "How long before they come here?"

* * *

A little while later, they were all in the lobby of the hospital. Greg's phone, now on silent, began to vibrate. Emma looked at it, "Same person again?" asked Fallon.

"'Her'," said Emma, as she looked at the caller ID on the screen, "Cute."

"Probably a girlfriend," said David.

"We could answer it – just let her know he's okay," said Mary Margaret.

"He's not okay," said Emma.

"He's alive. We could let her know he's alive," said Tamera.

"Nah. The police could trace it here instantly," said David.

"She can activate the find your phone thing without us picking it up at all," said Emma.

The phone stopped vibrating, "That settles that," said Leroy.

"Oh, my nerves can't take this. Is the surgery almost over?" asked Mary Margaret.

"I… I think it takes…" Emma started to say, when a man walked in and scanned the lobby.

He turned to leave when Gwen went to stopped him, "Whoa. Whoa. Wait. Wait. Any news?"

"No. I was just looking for the doctor," said the man.

"He's not in the OR?" asked Ruby.

"He never came in."

"Then page him," said Emma.

"He was not looking so good earlier," said David.

The man picked up a phone and they heard a beeping sound from nearby, "He's here," said Mary Margaret.

They all looked and saw the beeping was coming from a laundry basket of dirty scrubs. Emma looked through it and found Dr. Whale's lab coat with his pager in the pocket, "No, but his pager is," said Emma, "He's gone."

Emma handed Dr. Whale's lab coat to Ruby and she started to sniff it to pick up the scent, "Got the scent?" asked David.

"Boozy," said Ruby.

"Just find him and bring him back," said Emma, "We'll watch Hook and figure out options if Whale doesn't come back."

"Maybe Doc can do it," Mary Margaret suggested.

Leroy started to laugh, "Surgery?" then he got serious, "No."

"Maybe he didn't even run. Maybe Cora grabbed him for some reason."

"I don't think so," said Gwen, "He's been in a rough place since he brought Regina's fiancé back to life."

"Daniel?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Back to life?!" asked Emma.

"And had his arm ripped off and put back on," said David.

"Cool," said Leroy.

"Wait. Daniel came back?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Like some kind of Frankenstein?" asked Emma.

"That's Whale," said Tamera, "The doctor. And Daniel was his-"

"What went on here while we were gone?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Ruby, get going. Bring back… Dr. Frankenstein," said Emma. Then Ruby left, "We're going to send this guy back home with bolts in his neck."

"She'll find him," said Mary Margaret.

"Yeah, but what kind of state is he going to be in?"

A while later, Dr. Whale and Ruby came back to the hospital, while the others were still waiting in the lobby, "You're back," said Mary Margaret.

"Finally," said Emma.

"I don't know why everyone's so worried," said Dr. Whale, "I was just stretching my legs. Now I'm going to go do this thing." Then, he headed off to the operating room.

* * *

A few hours later, Dr. Whale walked out and Ruby walked over to him, "Where are they?" asked Dr. Whale.

"Getting coffee from the machine," said Ruby, "What's the verdict?"

"He'll live."

"You did it?"

"Thank you. Monster to monster."

"You did it!"

The others came around the corner when they hear Ruby, "He's going to make it?" asked David.

"He's got some recuperating ahead of him – a few weeks, maybe – but yes," said Dr. Whale, "He's going to live."

"Thank goodness," said Mary Margaret.

"Or me."

"Telling you right now, this will come to no good," said Leroy.

"Quiet, Leroy," said David.

"I want to talk to him," said Emma.

"He's waking up now," said Dr. Whale.

"Already?" asked Gwen.

"I waited a couple of hours to tell you in case he, you know, keeled over," said Dr. Whale, "But so far, so good."

"Alright, then," said Mary Margaret.

"Well, let's talk to him," said David.

"We're not talking to him as a group," said Emma, "We're not a group Sheriff."

"But, we've been doing this together," said Mary Margaret.

"We're trying to convince this guy this place is normal," said Emma, "In a normal town, the Sheriff goes in and asks a few questions. She doesn't bring her parents in with her."

"That's probably true," said David.

"We'll be right here, then," said Mary Margaret.

* * *

Everyone patiently waited downstairs while Emma talked the man. Emma came back downs headed back down a short time later and told them that he didn't see anything. He was looking at his phone before he hit Hook. "He didn't see nothing?" asked Leroy.

"Free and clear," said Emma.

"Oh, good," said Mary Margaret.

"Now maybe, things can calm down for ten minutes and we can catch our breath," said David.

 **AN:** **Remember, if you like this story. Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	12. Tiny

Tiny

The next day, Mary Margaret and Gwen were in the kitchen area of the loft when David walked in, "You like the holster, huh?" said Mary Margaret, with a smile.

"I miss carrying a sword," said David.

"Well, it looks good on you."

Gwen smiled when she saw her brother and sister in law kissing. Gwen stood up, "Come on. Fallon has the dwarves on Cora watch. They've got eyes everywhere, but they could use our help."

"Really?" said Mary Margaret, as she walked over to the door. David helped her with her coat and then she said, "How hard can it be to find a powerful sorceress in a small town?"

She opened the door and saw Regina preparing to knock on the door, "Apparently, not very hard," said Gwen.

"Regina. You're back," said Mary Margaret.

Regina looked at them and said, "I know you think I'm responsible for poor Dr. Hopper's death."

"He's… Alive," said David.

"What?"

"You were framed," said Mary Margaret.

"Who would do that?" asked Regina.

"Your mother," said Gwen, "She's here."

"But… But that's… That's… Not possible."

"We found a way back, so did she."

"We were wrong… And we're so sorry," said Mary Margaret.

"I know," said Regina, "But, if Cora's here, then we're all in danger. Please, you have to let me see my son. I can protect him."

"He's not here."

"What?"

"Mr. Gold asked Emma to help him find his son," said David, "They left town about an hour ago with Henry."

"And no one told me?" asked Regina.

"We didn't know where you were," said Gwen.

"And, to be honest, Regina," said Mary Margaret.

"No, I suppose she doesn't," said Regina, then she turned and left.

Gwen closed the door, "Well… that went well…"

"With her, it doesn't get much better," said David, "Come on. Let's go find Cora." He picked up Mary Margaret's bow and arrow.

"Where?" asked Mary Margaret.

"No idea," said David, as he handed the weapons to his wife, "But I know who to ask."

* * *

A short time later, David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Leroy and Hook were down at the docks. Hook was walking with a limp as he said, "You didn't even ask me about my recovery."

"How are you feeling, Hook?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Come closer and feel for yourself."

David hit Hook in the shoulder, "You want to lose the other hand? Where's the ship? Come on. Archie told us. It's shielded somehow, isn't it, mate?"

"Aye… That it is Follow me," Hook started down the dock, then stopped, "I don't know what you expect to find. Cora won't be there."

"Well, maybe she left something behind that will tell us where she went," said Gwen. She forced him to walk down the dock, "Let's go."

"No funny business," said Leroy, "I'm watching you, pirate."

"Yes, Dwarf," said Hook, "That should deter me from any maleficence."

"Oh, don't worry, Leroy. He'll help us," said Mary Margaret.

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because you're a pirate. You know which way the wind blows, and, right now, it is gusting towards us."

"Oh. I see where your daughter got her gumption. Follow me."

Hook turned and walked up an invisible gangway and disappeared behind a shield. Then, the rest of them followed. They stepped on to an old sailing ship, "You sailed this ship from our land. Can you sail it back?" asked Leroy.

"My ship?" asked Hook, "She's a marvel. Made from enchanted wood. We weathered many a storm together, seen many strange, glittering shores. But, to travel between lands, she must go through a portal."

"Yeah," said Gwen, "What do you know about Cora's plans?"

"Cora's not the most communicative of lasses. I will tell you this – whatever malice she has in mind, her weapon of choice is in here." He pointed to a tarp covered box

David and Leroy pulled back the tarp and under it was a cage. Inside the cage was a very large man unconscious, "Who's that?" asked Mary Margaret.

"This is the giant who had the compass you three needed to get back to Storybrooke," said Hook.

"So, Cora used magic to make him travel-sized," asked Leroy.

"Whatever she intends to do with him, it's important," said Hook.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what she intends to do with him," said David, "You're holding out on us."

"Well, either have your lovely wife torture it out of me," said Hook, "Which I promise will be fun for both..."

David grabbed Hook by the throat and shoved him against a yardarm, "Why don't you and I have some fun?"

"I don't know what she's planning," said Hook, "Why don't you wake the bloody giant and ask him yourself?"

Hook held out the key to the cage. Mary Margaret took it and unlocked the door. She crouched down and touched the man on the shoulder. During this, Hook quietly snuck away. He startled awake, "Hey… It's alright. You're safe now," said Mary Margaret. The man crawled out of the cage, "What's your name?" she asked.

"Anton," said the man, "Where's that witch?"

"She's gone," said Gwen.

"What did she do? She made me small."

"Come on. Let's get you out of here," said David.

"You," said Anton.

"Me?"

"You!" Anton punched David in the face knocking him over a railing and onto the deck below.

"David!" shouted Mary Margaret.

"Hey! Hey, over here, you big..." said Leroy as he tried to distract Anton. But he was thrown down the steps on the other side. Anton walked down the steps and after David. David drew his gun to shoot him in the leg but Anton kicked out of his hand. Then, an arrow flew past the right side of Anton's head, and a blast of yellow magic went past the left side of Anton's head.

He looked and saw Mary Margaret with her bow drawn and Gwen had taken her Sun Stone off her belt, and it was glowing yellow, "Step away from my husband," said Mary Margaret.

Anton looked around, "You may have me outnumbered, but this isn't over," he looked down at David, "You think I forgot what you did? I didn't. You'll pay for your evil. I promise! You'll pay!" Then he ran off.

* * *

David, Mary Margaret, Gwen and Leroy went to Granny's to regroup. David, Mary Margaret and Gwen were in a booth while Leroy was in the bathroom. Then, Mary Margaret said, "David… Did that giant say he'll make you pay? For what?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen that guy before," said David.

"Well, he sure knows you."

Then, Gwen had a realization, "No. It's not about you. He just thinks it is."

"What?" asked David.

"He thinks your James."

"Our brother?" he asked, "Why?"

"Well…" said Gwen, "as you know our kingdom was strapped for gold. Before Midas offered the reward for killing the dragon, we learned there was a Giant in the kingdom. King George sent James and his lover at the time, Jacqueline, to befriend the giant and steal some beans, while the Jewel Riders and I lead a charge to take as much gold as we could. To tell the truth, I thought we had killed all the giants."

"That must be it," said David, "Come on." He said, as he stood up.

"Where are we going?" asked Mary Margaret.

"To find the giant and see if we can convince him that I'm not James." David saw Leroy walking out of the back and said, "Leroy, get your head looked at and gather the dwarves. We need to keep an eye out for this giant."

* * *

Mary Margaret, David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon were searching town for Anton. When they found him, he had grown back to his normal height which was around 50 ft. tall. He was walking down Main Street yelling at the people below, "That's right! Run! Run!" The six of them were looking around the corner trying to stay out of sight. He picked up the car and threw it in their direction missing them by a few feet. Then Anton stalked away. The three of them ran down the road and David said, "Head to the town hall! Bring anyone you find on the way! Somebody get Leroy!"

"Guess we found our giant," said Mary Margaret, "I just didn't think he would be so…"

"Giant?" asked Fallon.

"My mistake."

David looked at Gwen, "You said you guys fought giants… How did you stop them?"

"We used poisoned swords," said Gwen, "But, that's not the answer now."

"I agree," said David. He stepped forward and yelled up to Anton, "Wait! You don't have to do this!"

Anton turned and looked at them, "Yeah, I do. You destroyed everything in my life. Now you're going to know what that feels like."

Gwen stepped forward, "The man who hurt you? That wasn't him. That was his twin brother, James. They were separated at birth. He was raised by my father a ruthless King." As Gwen talked, Leroy joined them.

Anton looked at David, "You're not James?"

"No!" shouted David.

"Then, where is he?"

"He paid the ultimate price for his arrogance. He's dead! There is nothing more you can do to him."

"We're on your side, Anton!" shouted Mary Margaret, as they all stepped forward, "We're good! We're here because of you. You know our daughter, Emma. You gave her the magic compass."

"Emma?" asked Anton, "Let me talk to her. She says you're okay, then I'll stop."

"She's kind of out of town," said Mary Margaret.

"Really?"

"But when she gets back, I know she'll really want to talk to you."

"How convenient," said Anton, "Everyone I'm looking for isn't around! All you humans do is lie, and cheat, and kill, and I'm sick of it!" Then Anton ran after them.

"Well, that went well!" said Fallon, as they ran.

"So, let me get this straight – you got a twin brother?" asked Leroy.

"Yeah," said David.

"His name is James?"

"Right."

"Well, your name is James."

"No, actually, it's not."

"It's Charming, then?"

"No, that's the nickname I gave him," said Mary Margaret.

"Hey, hold on. What the hell is your name?" asked Leroy.

"David," he answered.

"Your curse name?"

"My real name!"

"What, you're David, James, and Charming? Is David like a middle name?"

"No! It's my name-name."

"You know what? I'm going to call you whatever I damn well please! Is that okay?!"

"Sure, Leroy."

As they ran they reached the docks, "So what's the plan?" asked Leroy.

"Lead the giant away from here, so he can't hurt anyone," said David.

"Wait," said Tamera, "If we keep heading in this direction, we're going to hit the town line."

"Okay, new plan." David stopped and approached Anton.

"What are you doing?" asked Gwen.

"Giving him what he wants," Then David shouted, "Anton! How about we make a deal?"

"I don't make deals with humans," said Anton.

"Just hear me out. I'll surrender myself to you, if you spare the lives of everyone in Storybrooke."

"David, you can't do this," said Mary Margaret.

"If I don't, the whole town will suffer. I can't allow that," David turned back to Anton, "Well, what do you say?

"Deal," said Anton. Anton lunged at David and tried to jump on him. But, Mary Margaret pulled David away at the last moment. The ground was very soft and Anton ended up waist deep in the ground. Then all of the sudden Anton was surrounded by blue smoke and then he seemingly vanished.

"Where did he go?" asked Fallon.

"I'm not sure," said David.

They walked over to the hole. They looked down and they saw Anton hanging onto an underground pipe.

David went and got his truck. While Leroy came back with a long, heavy rope. While they were gone a group of townspeople arrived including Ruby, Granny and the rest of the Dwarves, "That better hold," said David.

"It'll hold," said Leroy.

"I got this," said Granny as she tied the rope to the back of David's truck. Leroy then threw the other end of the rope down the hole.

David got ready to climb down when Mary Margaret pulled him into a kiss, "Most people would let that giant die after what he's done," she said.

"You wouldn't," said David. He wrapped the rope around his waist and began to shimmy down the hole, "Alright, Anton! I'm coming down!" He reached Anton and said, "Take my hand."

"No!" said Anton.

"No?"

"I don't want to go back up there. I should just let go!"

"You'll die."

"Maybe death hurts less than life."

"If you really wanted to die, you would have let go already. Now take my hand!" Anton grabbed David hand.

Gwen watched from the top of the hole and said, "Okay! Pull 'em up!"

The townspeople pulled and soon David and Anton were back at the surface, "You saved my life." Said Anton as he looked around at the people around him

"That's what we do," said Gwen.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," said Leroy.

* * *

They took Anton to Granny's and as they walked inside, Leroy said, "This is Granny's. She makes a mean lasagna and runs an inn, so I'm sure we can set you up with a room till you find a place."

"Thanks, but I think I'll set up camp in the woods," said Anton.

"The woods?"

"Yeah, I'm better off alone. I'm not too good at fitting in."

"You're in the right place. Storybrooke's got all kinds – dwarves, fairies, werewolves, you name it. Ruby, beers all around!"

"We all miss our land, Anton," said Tamera, "But this is our home now."

"You never think about going back?" asked Anton.

"Of course, we do," said Gwen, "It's just not possible."

"We have no way to get there," said David.

"How's the farmland here?" asked Anton.

"Pretty good. Why?"

Anton took out a vile with a piece of plant inside, "The stem is from a beanstalk. If I plant it, it should be able to grow some magic beans. And then, you just may have a way."

* * *

Mary Margaret, David, Gwen, Tamera, Fallon and the dwarves to Anton to a field outside town but still in the town border. Anton checked the soil, "Well, what's the verdict?" asked David.

"Soil's got a nice loamy feel," said Anton, "Lot of minerals. The beans should grow well here. Only one problem."

"What's that?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Cora. This is why she brought me. She wanted me to grow beans. So, whatever she plans to do with them… Can't be good."

"Then we won't let her get to them," said Fallon.

"No one touches our crop," said Leroy.

"Your crop?" asked Anton, "I thought you guys were miners?"

"Work is work. It's what we do. So what do you say? You up for some help?"

"Okay."

"Happy!" called Leroy and Happy handed Anton a pick axe, "Here. To help break up the earth."

Anton looked down, and the name 'Tiny' appears on the handle, " 'Tiny'. My brothers used to call me that."

"Axe never lies."

"Wait a second," said David, "I did my time in the mines. How come I didn't get one of those?"

"Cause you ain't a dwarf," said Leroy, "Welcome aboard, brother." Then, the dwarfs and Anton started to hack at the ground, whistling while they work.

 **AN: Remember, if you like this story. Review, Favorite and Follow, if you haven't done so, yet. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	13. The Queen Is Dead

The Queen Is Dead

Later that day, Mary Margaret was telling David and Gwen, Fallon, and Tamera about the phone call she got from Emma. They found Rumpelstiltskin's son and it turned out to be Henry's father! "So, Rumpelstiltskin is Henry's grandfather?" asked Tamera.

"Apparently," said Mary Margaret.

"But I'm his grandfather," said David.

"You can have more than one."

"So his…step-grandmother is Regina, the Evil Queen," said Fallon.

"Actually, his step-great-grandmother," said Tamera, "And she's also his adoptive mother."

"It's a good thing we don't have Thanksgiving in our land, because that dinner would suck," said David.

"Or, maybe this will mellow everyone out."

"I don't know Mare…" said Gwen, "I think it would be a very long time before we can all sit down at a table and have a dinner like one big happy family…."

* * *

The next day, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon were walking to the front door of the Sheriff's station. "So?" asked Tamera to Gwen, "How was your date with Archie last night."

Gwen smiled, "It was good. We had dinner at his place and watched a movie on Netflix."

"I'll tell you," said Fallon, "If anyone would have told me back home, that you would be dating Jimmy Cricket. I would have said they were crazy. But you guys seem so great together."

Gwen smiled again, "Archie is such a great guy. I guess I kind of have to thank Regina for casting the curse... Without it he would still be a cricket."

The three women walked into the office and saw David laying on the floor. "David!" They said as they rushed to his side and started to try to wake him up, "David?!"

He groaned as he woke up, "What happened?"

"Hook. He ambushed me," he said, as he started to get up.

"Are you okay?" asked Gwen.

"I'm fine. It's not me he wants. It's Gold," he looked in Emma's office and saw Hook's fake hand on Emma's desk, "…and his hook. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy throwing his ass in jail."

David sat down in a chair just as Mary Margaret walked in. She saw the mark on her husband's head, "What happened?"

"Hook ambushed him before we got here," said Fallon, "We were just about to head out to try and find him."

"Hook isn't the problem," said Mary Margaret.

"Tell that to my head," said David.

"It's Regina. She's been lying to us. She's working with Cora to find Gold's dagger."

"The dagger controls him," said Gwen, "If Cora gets it, she can force Gold and all his power to do her bidding."

"Or… Become the Dark One herself," said Mary Margaret.

"Neither one of those options sounds good," said Tamera.

David stood up, "Lucky for us, we can call the man himself. He's with Emma." He went to dial the phone.

"Tried it. Sent a message."

"Well, we can't just wait," said David, as he hung the phone up.

"No, we have to buy time until they call us back or return," said Mary Margaret.

"How?" asked Fallon.

"Regina. She doesn't trust her mother," said Mary Margaret, "Never has. If we can put some doubt in her about Cora's motives, it might slow them down."

"And you think she'll just trust you?" asked David.

"Well, she doesn't need to trust me. She just has to listen to me. And I know how to get her to do that."

* * *

Mary Margaret had called Regina and told her that she had heard from Henry and wanted to meet at Granny's to talk. When Regina got there Mary Margaret told Regina that she knew about her and her mother teaming up and that Cora didn't care about her or Henry and was only using her. Regina told Mary Margaret that if she knew what was good for her she would stay out of her and her mother's way. Mary Margaret went back to the Sheriff's station and told the others what happened. They decided they needed help. So, they headed to the convent to talk to Mother Superior. When they got there Mother Superior was already outside, "Mother Superior! We need your help," said Mary Margaret.

"I know. Something's wrong," she said, "I sense a great deal of dark magic has been expelled."

"That's why we're here," said Gwen, "Cora and Regina are trying to find Gold's dagger."

"So they may control The Dark One."

"We're hoping your magic will find the dagger first," said Mary Margaret. "Please, Mother Superior, you're our only hope."

A little while later they were all standing outside Mr. Gold's shop. Mother Superior, used her wand, to open the lock but her wand dropped from her hand as she felt a magical feedback, "Ah! He's cast a protection spell," said Mother Superior.

"Well, then we need to try something equally powerful," said Mary Margaret.

"Dark magic?" asked David.

"Dear, you don't know what you're saying."

"Cora can't get that dagger," said Mary Margaret, "If dark magic is the only thing that can break that protection spell, we need to make an exception and use it. Just like you told me once before."

Mother Superior was shocked, "What… I never told you any such thing."

"Look, I kept your secret."

Mother Superior looked insulted by Mary Margaret's insinuation. Just then David's cell phone rang. He took it out and saw it was Emma, "Everybody hold on," he said, "Emma? What have you got? It's where?" He looked up at the clock above the library.

* * *

David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon climbed the steps inside the clock tower until they reached the clock itself. David took a pane of glass off the clock face and the dagger was attached to the minute hand of the clock, "It's here!"

"A clever hiding place for a very clever man," said Gwen as David removed the dagger from the hand of the clock. Then, he handed it to Mary Margaret.

"We did it," she said.

"The Dark One finally can be controlled," said Fallon.

Just then they heard Cora's voice, "Indeed he can be. But by whom?"

The looked up and saw Cora and Regina magically appear in a puff of purple smoke.

"Cora…" said Mary Margaret.

"You're too late," said Tamera.

"Actually, it seems that we found you just in time," said Cora.

Mary Margaret looked at Regina, "I told you to pick your side carefully. Good has won, just as it always does."

"I think the day's finally come, my darling Snow, for you to learn a long overdue lesson," said Cora. She waved her hand and Johanna magically appeared.

"Johanna!" said Mary Margaret.

"You see, in the end, it isn't good or evil that wins… But power."

Regina stuck her hand through Johanna's chest and pulled out her heart, "Your choice."

"Do not harm her," said Mary Margaret, "She has nothing to do with this."

"Of course she does," said Cora.

"Whatever they want, Snow, don't give it to them," said Johanna.

"Quiet, handmaid."

David drew his gun and pointed it at Cora. Gwen, Tamera and Fallon took their Jewels off their belts and they started to glow with magic "Mother, watch out," warned Regina.

Cora then magically knocked the gun and Jewels out of their hands, "Leave me, Snow!" said Johanna. Regina started to squeeze Johanna's heart and she started to yell in pain.

"Enough of this," said Cora, "Surrender the dagger. We all know you'll follow your mother's example, no matter the cost. All she ever wanted was for you to be good."

"Those words," said Mary Margaret, "Where did you hear those words?"

"Where do you think?"

"The Blue Fairy made me swear never to speak of that candle again. Not because it was a secret… But because it wasn't her."

"The dagger, dear."

"She didn't give me that candle. You did. My mother wasn't sick at all, was she?"

"Oh, she was quite sick."

"You did all of this. You killed my mother!"

"Actually, the candle would've worked. You could've saved her."

"But you knew I wouldn't. Why? Why did you take her from me?"

"To make my daughter the Queen."

"Hand over the dagger," said Regina.

"No. No," said Mary Margaret, "I will not let you win. Not again!"

"You've already lost your mother," said Cora, "How many connections to her do you have left? Not many, I'd wager."

"If we give up the dagger, we can still win," said David.

"Let me go, Snow. It's alright," said Johanna. Then, Regina squeezed Johanna's heart again.

"What would she say if she could see you now?" asked Cora, "If she wasn't dead" Regina continues to squeeze Johanna's heart and she yelled out again in pain, "The dagger, dear."

"Enough!" shouted Mary Margaret. Then she threw the dagger to the ground. Regina released her grip on Johanna's heart.

Cora magically brought the dagger to her hand, "Such a good girl."

"You have what you came for," said Gwen.

Regina put Johanna's heart back into her chest. Johanna then rushes over to the small group. Then Cora said, "Not quite everything." Cora then magically threw Johanna through the face of the clock and fell to the sidewalk below. Mary Margaret looked of the broken clock face and started to cry at the side of her old friend dead on the street below. David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon wrapped her in a group hug to try and comfort her.

"Well, there you go. You see where good gets you?" asked Regina, then she and her mother disappeared in puff of purple smoke.

* * *

Mary Margaret, David, Gwen, Fallon and Tamera were at the graveyard. Mary Margaret was planting flowers of Johanna's grave, "It was a beautiful service," said Tamera.

"That never should've happened," said Mary Margaret, "Johanna was an innocent."

"You can't blame yourself, Mare," said Gwen, "You did the best you could do in an impossible situation."

"And yet, Regina's family mausoleum remains untouched."

"Mary Margaret…" said David.

"I've had the same rule my entire life," said Mary Margaret, "hold on to goodness. It's what my mother taught me. How many more lives is following that lesson going to take away from me?"

"You can't let Cora make you lose faith in who you are," said Fallon, "someone who does the right thing. You know, that's exactly what she wants."

"I made the 'right' decision, when I stopped Regina's execution all those years ago. When it could've saved us all of this heartache. I made the 'right' decision, when I sent Emma through the wardrobe alone, and we didn't see her first steps. I made the 'right' decision, when I let my own mother die from Cora's poison."

"And we keep beating them," said David.

"At what cost?" asked Mary Margaret, "All I want is our happy ending. It's time. We've earned it. No more lives lost. No more hearts broken."

"The dagger is useless until Gold returns to Storybrooke," said Gwen, "We have time. We'll get it back. And when we do, we can bring Cora and Regina to justice."

"I don't care about justice anymore. We keep thinking that people will change. What if that's wrong? What if I'm the one who has to change?"

"Change how?" asked David.

"I'm going to kill Cora," stated Mary Margaret.

David, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon all looked at each other. They had never heard Snow White talk like that... And it scared them...

 **AN: Remember, if you like this story. Review, Favorite and Follow. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	14. The Miller's Daughter

The Miller's Daughter

After the Johanna's funeral, David got a call from Emma and she told him that Hook had attacked Gold and poisoned him. They were able to subdue Hook and Emma, Henry, Gold and Henry's father, Neal were coming back on Hook's Ship.

David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamera and Fallon were at the docks to meet the group. Neal and Fallon helped Mr. Gold off a dingy they used to come ashore. Mary Margaret walked with her daughter, "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Emma, "Yeah, we're alright."

David took over for Fallon. He and Neal headed to David's truck with Gold, "Uh, I drove a ship," said Henry.

"Did you now?" asked David.

"Yeah, my dad showed me how."

"That's…me," said Neal.

They put Gold in the bed of the truck and he said, "Thank you, thank you."

"Is Cora trying to control you with the dagger?" asked Gwen.

"Oh, you'd know if she was, cause most of you would be dead by now."

"Well, then we'll just have to take the fight to her before that can happen," said Mary Margaret.

"We will," said David.

"And this time, we finish it."

"Mary Margaret..." said Tamera.

"Tamera," said Mary Margaret, "She needs to be stopped. She needs to be killed. This is our family. We are going to protect it."

"Of course we will," said David, "but what you're talking about goes beyond that."

"Does it? Because she is the reason you've never met my mother."

"I know. I know what happened to Queen Eva, and I have zero problem with Cora dying for it. But not by your hand, and not out of vengeance."

"Why?"

"Because you wouldn't be able to live with yourself. You have the purest heart of anyone I have ever known. That's who you are, and that's who you're going to stay."

Just then Emma walked up to Gold, "You okay?"

"Ah, I'm beginning to feel a bit stronger," said Gold, "Take me back to my shop. There's magic there that can protect us."

"Let me guess. I get to go with Tamera and Fallon," said Henry.

"You got it, kid," said Emma.

"We'll keep him safe," said Fallon.

"Thank you," said Mary Margaret.

"Don't look so worried," said Henry, "You'll stop Cora. You won't let her get away."

* * *

The group arrived at Gold's Pawn Shop. They set Gold in the back part of the shop to rest. Emma walked in with an empty glass container, "Emma, did you find it?" asked Gold.

"Yeah. There's nothing in it," said Emma. She shook the container and there was a clinking sound, "What the hell?" She stuck her hand inside and took something out.

"Invisible chalk," said Gold, "Use it in the front doorway. Draw a line. The rest of you, you might want to prepare for battle."

Emma went to draw the line while David and Gwen checked outside for any signs of Cora or Regina.

They walked back in the shop and David said, "We're all clear outside."

Gwen could feel the tension in the room between Emma and Neal, "Everything okay? Neal and Emma both nodded.

Gwen and Emma walked in the back room, "I drew the invisible line," said Emma, "I…think. What now? You cast a protection spell?"

"No, no," said Mr. Gold, "You're going to do that for me. I'm relying on you."

"I can't cast a spell. I can spell 'spell'."

"You can. It's in you."

"How? Here? Like, from my brain?"

"Just try," said Gold. Emma closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. But Gold snapped at her, "Stop thinking!" said Gold. Emma rolled her eyes then Gold continued, "Conjuring magic is not intellectual endeavor. It's emotion. You must ask yourself, 'why am I doing this? Who am I protecting?' Feel it." Again, Emma closed her eyes. This time, a barrier of magic rose around the shop. "Oh, yeah. You feel it?"

"Yeah… I think I did," said Emma.

"Good girl. Very good girl."

* * *

David, Mary Margaret and Gwen kept a lookout out front while Emma and Neal stayed in back. David looked over at his wife and he could tell she was uneasy about something. "What's wrong?" asked David, "Did Gold tell you something?"

"No," Mary Margaret said quickly, "I mean, he just said that Cora's determined to hurt us."

"I won't let that happen," said David. "We'll do whatever needs to be done."

"You're right. You're absolutely right."

Just then there was a shudder. Gwen looked through the blinds and saw Regina and Cora standing in front of the shop. "It's them." Gwen grabbed a sword from behind a counter while David headed in the back to get Emma and Neal. She didn't even take her Jewel off her belt. She knew her magic would be no match for anything that Regina and Cora could conjure.

A few moments after they came from the back the front door flew opened and Regina and Cora walked in. Emma, Neal, Gwen and David all had swords drawn. "Regina. Think about what you're doing," said David.

"Don't talk to me," said Regina. No one saw Mary Margaret sneak out the side door. Regina formed a fireball in her hand. David stepped forward and deflected with his sword. Regina waved her hand and threw him out of the front door.

"David!" shouted Emma.

Gwen stepped forward and got ready to lunge at them. But she, suffered the same fate as her brother, Regina waved her hand and threw her out the front door and locked it.

David and Gwen were both knocked out for several minutes. When they came to they didn't see Emma, Neal or Mary Margaret. Gwen tried the door and found it locked. David took out his cell phone and called Emma, "David?" she asked, as she answered.

"Are you safe?" asked David.

"For now. I've got the spell up in the back room."

"Is Mary Margaret okay?"

"She's not with you?"

"No. Where the hell is she?"

* * *

Gwen and David started to search Storybrooke for Mary Margaret. They ended up at the graveyard and they saw Mary Margaret sitting on the steps of Regina's vault with her head in her hands. "Mary Margaret!" shouted David, "Are you okay?!" he asked as Gwen and David knelt next to her, "Are you…"

Mary Margaret kept looking down. She couldn't look at her husband or her sister-in-law, "What did you do?" asked Gwen, as she and David stood.

"You were right. This isn't me," said Mary Margaret, as she kept looking down, "I used an enchanted candle on Cora's heart then I gave it to Regina. When Regina puts the heart back in Cora's body, it will kill Cora but save Gold…" David and Gwen stood there dumbfounded. Mary Margaret continued, "I thought I could handle it but… Now…" She looked up at them, "We've got to stop Regina… Come on!" Mary Margaret stood up and started to run out of the graveyard.

* * *

The three of them got to Gold's shop, as fast as they could. They ran in to the back room and Mary Margaret shouted, "Regina! Stop!" But, it was too late. Cora was dead in Regina's arms and Gold was standing over them alive and well.

Regina looked up at Mary Margaret with hate in her eyes, "You did this."

 **AN: If you like this story, and you haven't done so yet, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


	15. Selfless, Brave and True

Selfless, Brave and True

The next day Emma, Henry, Gwen, Tamara and Fallon were having breakfast at the loft. David walked out of his and Mary Margaret's sleeping area shaking his head, "Anything?" asked Tamara.

"She won't eat a bite," said David.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Henry, as he looked at his grandmother laying on the bed.

"Nothing. She's just a little sick," said Gwen.

Henry looked at the adults around him and said, "You guys are lying to me, aren't you?"

"No one's lying," said Fallon

"You are, just like you did about my dad."

"Henry, I…" Emma tried to touch Henry's shoulder but he pulled away. Emma looked over at her father, "He's right. No more lying."

"Emma…" said David.

"He deserves to know," she turned to her son and said, "Here's the thing, Henry. Cora's death... Mary Margaret was partially responsible for it, and that's why she's so upset."

"No. No, no, she couldn't," said Henry.

Just then there was a knock on the door, "I'll get it," said David.

"She was trying to protect us," said Emma.

"But she's Snow White," said Henry, "She wouldn't hurt anybody."

David opened the door and saw Gold was standing there, "Get out!"

"I think you're gonna wanna hear what I have to say," said Gold "for her sake," he motioned over at Mary Margaret

Gwen, Tamara, Fallon, Emma and Henry stepped toward the door, "What are you talking about?" asked Emma.

"Regina. She's planning to strike back - against your mother."

"What is she gonna do to her?" asked Henry.

"Oh, she didn't say."

"No," said David, "You don't get to come in here and just drop a bomb like that. You're gonna figure this out. And you're gonna help us."

"And, why should I?" asked Gold.

"Because aside from us being family now, Mary Margaret saved your life. Now you owe her a debt. And you always pay your debts, don't you? You're gonna help us stop Regina."

PGJR

"What the hell does that do?" asked Emma.

"In theory, it has the power to make someone love you," said Gold.

"Doesn't that break magic laws?" asked Tamara, "You can't bring someone back to life, you can't force someone to love you."

"This particular spell can make someone think they love you. And if you're as desperate for love as Regina appears to be, you just might believe it."

Just then, Henry came down the stairs, "She's using it on me, isn't she."

"Hey buddy," said David, as he walked over to him, "why don't you go back upstairs, let us handle this."

"No!" He pushed past her and went over to Emma, "Emma! You said you were going to be honest with me. Now, why is Regina using this curse?"

"Because it's the only way she can get everything she wants," said Gold, "That she can get you."

"But if all she wants is me..." said Henry.

"Your mother is a complicated woman. She wants your love of course, but she also wants vengeance. On Mary Margaret."

"How does the curse give her both?" asked Fallon.

"Because the last ingredient she needs to enact the curse is the heart of the person she hates the most," said Gold.

"You have to stop her," said Emma.

"Oh, I don't have to do anything. On the contrary, I believe warning you fulfills my debt."

"Not even close!" said David, "This is my wife's life we're talking about."

"Not to mention your grandson's!" added Emma.

"Well wars have costs," said Gold.

"Nice," said Gwen.

"Well this is a blood feud, dearie. One that goes back a long time. And the only way you can end a blood feud, is by the spilling of more blood. That is the only way I know to eliminate your Regina problem."

"How, by killing her?" asked Tamara.

"Is there no other option?" asked Emma.

"I'm afraid not," said Gold.

"Stop!" shouted Henry, "Listen to yourselves. You're talking about killing my mom! You used to be heroes. What happened to you?" he shook his head and ran out of the loft.

"Henry," called Emma, as she started after him. Before she went out the door she looked back at the others, "No matter how this plays out, we need to keep him as far away from it as possible."

"She's right," said Mr. Gold, "Cora is more dangerous because she didn't have a heart. Regina is even more dangerous because she does."

PGJR

A short time later, they got a call from Emma. She took him to see Neal, because they figured with everything that was going on it was best if Henry wasn't in Storybrooke right now. Henry seemed to agree and went to the bathroom. When Emma and Neal noticed that Henry took his backpack, they knew he ran away.

Gold agreed to watch Mary Margaret while they were gone. They had Ruby use her wolf abilities trace Henry's scent and she led them to the Mines.

"Down here! He was in here," said Ruby, as she led them deeper in to the mine.

"Why would an eleven-year-old kid run away to the mines?" asked Neal

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Gwen. She remembered when Henry came to the mine before the curse was broken and got trapped inside with Dr. Hopper. Luckily, Emma was able save them both.

"I think I know what he was looking for," said Fallon, as she shined her flashlight on a box of explosives.

"The dynamite the dwarfs use for blasting," said David, as he opened the box.

"What the hell would he want dynamite for?" asked Tamara.

"To get rid of magic," said Neal.

"Wait, what?" asked Emma.

"At the diner, he said someone should get rid of magic."

"So, he's going to blow it up?" asked Ruby.

"Where would he even go to do that?" asked Neal.

"The Wishing Well," said Gwen, "Gold and Regina knew the portal was going to open there. It must be a center point of Storybrooke's magic."

"Let's go," said David.

PGJR

David, Emma, Neal, Gwen, Tamara and Fallon headed to the Wishing Well. Henry and Regina were there, "Hey Regina!" said Emma, "Get away from my son!"

Regina turned and looked at them, "He's not yours. He's mine," she held up a small scroll, "And after I cast this, you'll never see him again."

"That's never going to happen," said David.

"If you want to kill Mary Margaret you're going to have to go through us," said Gwen.

"Okay," said Regina, she formed a fireball in her right hand. David pulled his gun. Gwen, Tamara and Fallon took their Jewels off their belts and the jewels started to glow. The four of them stepped in front of Neal and Emma.

Henry ran between Regina and the others, "Stop!"

"Henry, get out of the way!" said Neal.

"Not until someone helps me destroy magic!"

"There's no way to get rid of it," said Regina, "You can't just blow it up!"

"Magic isn't the problem, kid. It's her," said Emma as she held her hand out to her son.

"It's not just her. It's everyone. Look what magic did to Mary Margaret," said Henry. He looked at Regina, "Look what it did to you! It's ruining everything." He looked back at the others, "It makes good people do terrible things."

"And bad people," said Fallon.

Henry turned and looked at Regina, "Please. It's going to destroy my family. Help me get rid of it."

"I can't do that Henry," said Regina, "But there is something I can do. Regina dropped the scroll with the curse on it in the fireball in her hand. Then, she closed her hand to extinguish the fireball. David lowered his gun. Gwen, Fallon and Tamara put their Jewels back.

"Thank you," said Henry. Then, he walked up to Emma and she wrapped his arms around him. Henry broke the hug then. Henry, Emma, Neal, David, Gwen, Fallon and Tamara walked away, leaving Regina alone.

PGJR

The next day, Gwen had the day off and was in the park with Archie taking Pongo for a walk. Then, Gwen's cell phone rang. She took it now and said, "Hello?"

"Gwen, It's Mary Margaret… Can you meet me at Granny's in like 10 minutes?"

"Sure…"

"Okay bye…"

"Bye…"

"Who was that?" asked Archie.

"Mary Margaret. She wants to meet me at Granny's."

"Well, it's good that she's up out of bed."

"Yeah," she gave Archie a small kiss. "See you later for dinner?"

Archie smiled, "Of course."

Gwen smiled and gave him another kiss, "Bye…"

Gwen head to Granny's when she walked in she saw she saw Regina talking to Greg Mendall, the man that hit Hook with his car. Then, she saw Emma and Marco siting at the counter. She walked up to Emma and said, "Have you seen your mother?"

"No… She called you too?" asked Emma.

"Yeah."

Just then Gwen heard the doorbell ring, she turned and saw Mary Margaret at the door as Regina was leaving. Gwen said as Mary Margaret walked up to them, "Hey. What's up? Why the urgent phone call?"

"It's August. I found him," said Mary Margaret.

"My boy? He's alive?" asked Marco.

"Yes, but... he's completely wooden. He's been living in an abandoned trailer down near the toll bridge."

"What can we do?" asked Emma, "Can we help him?"

"No," said Mary Margaret, "But I know someone who might be able to… Mother Superior."

"Yes. Yes, The Blue Fairy," said Marco, "She helped once. She can help again. She must!" Then the four of them headed out the door while Emma put some money on the counter.

PGJR

They met with Mother Superior outside the convent, "I know about August," she said, "He came to me shortly after the curse broke and asked if I would return him to what he was."

"Why didn't you?" asked Gwen.

"Because what he was is what he is," Mother Superior looked at Marco, "Do you remember the morning I found you on that beach all those years ago? The day I turned your son into a real boy?

"Yes," said Marco, "It was the happiest day of my life."

"I told Pinocchio so long as he remained brave, truthful, and unselfish, he would stay a real boy. But I'm afraid he did not. That is why he changed back. And that's why there's nothing I can do for him.

"It's true he's done some things he regrets," said Mary Margaret, "We all have. But shouldn't he have another chance?"

"If there is still a path of redemption for August, it is one that he must travel on his own," said Mother Superior, "No one can force him, or it will not be true."

Mary Margaret looked at Marco and saw he was worried, she said to him, "Don't despair, Marco. I know there's still hope for your son. There has to be."

PGJR

They headed to the woods to talk to August. Mary Margaret was leading the way. As they walked Marco said, "This is all my fault."

"Our children make their own decisions, Marco," said Mary Margaret, "You can't blame yourself for anything that's happened."

"Yes, I can. And you should blame me, too,' He walked past Mary Margaret and stood in front of the three women, "The wardrobe I built for you. The one that transported Emma to this world… she did not go alone."

"Of course she did. The wardrobe only had enough magic to transport one person."

"No, that was a lie I made The Blue Fairy tell you. It had enough magic to transport two, and it did… your daughter... and my son... Pinocchio."

"I could have gone with her? With Emma?"

"There is no apology I could give that could ever make up for what I did. But I am so sorry," said Marco. Then, Mary Margaret slapped him hard across the face.

Emma and Gwen were stunned. Mary Margaret looked surprised that she did that, "Mary Margaret!" said Gwen, "What are you doing? He's apologizing."

"No, no, that's okay. I deserve that."

"No, that wasn't me," said Mary Margaret, "Marco, I am so sorry. I'm not myself. You just made a mistake. I would have done the same thing for my child. I forgive you. You were protecting your son.

"No," said Marco, "I burdened him with a weight no child should have to bear, and I called it love."

Soon, they got to the August's trailer and went inside. But, August was nowhere to be found. As they walked back to town Emma's phone rang, "Emma Swan."

"Emma, it's August," said the voice on the other end.

"August."

"Listen to me. I have to warn you." Then the line when dead.

"August..." asked Emma, "Warn me? Warn me about what?"

"What's going on?" asked Gwen.

"I don't know…" Emma looked at her phone. "August just called me from the station and now the lines dead. We better get back."

Emma called David and filled him on what happened, while Gwen called Tamara and Fallon. They along with Henry met up with the others, as they walked toward Town Hall. "If August is still at the station, he's not picking up," said David.

Just then August burst out of the front door, "August!" said Emma. Then the group ran to him as August fell to the ground, "August!"

Marco helped Emma roll August onto his back and said, "My child. My boy. My boy. What happened to you?"

"I'm so sorry, papa," said August.

"No. There is nothing to apologize for. Everything is gonna be all right."

August looked and saw "Emma."

"August," said Emma.

"Emma..." August strained to speak, "She's... She..." Then, August stopped talking and was now just a large wooden puppet.

"Oh, no," said Marco, as his voice braked, "Not again." Then he started to sob.

"August?" said Neal, as he arrived on the scene.

"No," said Mary Margaret, "It can't end this way. He was supposed to get a second chance."

"What happened?"

"Someone killed him to stop him from telling us something," said Emma, "He used his last dying breath to warn us. I will not let that be in vain."

"Brave... truthful... and unselfish," Henry said to himself. Then out loud he repeated, "Brave, truthful, and unselfish. Don't you see what this means? That's what Pinocchio was supposed to be. There's still hope. We need The Blue Fairy."

"I'm here, Henry," said Mother Superior.

"What does Henry mean?" asked Mary Margaret.

"I was able to turn Pinocchio into a real boy after he sacrificed his life for Marco's. If his actions today were indeed brave, truthful, and unselfish, then you're right. There's a chance I can do it again."

Marco looked up at her, "Please, I beg of you… Try."

Mother Superior pointed her wand and August. He was bathed in white light and in a flash, he was transformed into a 7-year-old boy. "Father?" he asked.

Marco stared to cry happy tears, "Pinocchio. Look. Look."

"I'm a real boy," said Pinocchio, "I'm a real boy!" Then father and son hugged and everyone around them smiled.

Just then Neal's fiancé, Tamera Green, walked up, Neal looked at her and said, "Hi."

"It's... it's true," Tamera Green was stunned.

"Do better this time, Pinocchio," said Mother Superior, and she lightly tapped his nose with her finger.

"Pinocchio? That's..."

"Yeah," said Neal.

Emma stepped forward and asked the boy, "Pinocchio? I have to ask you a question. I need you to think real hard, okay? Before you turned into a little boy, you were trying to tell us something very important. Do you remember? You were trying to warn us about something."

Pinocchio thought for a moment, "I... I don't remember. If I did, I would be truthful. I promise."

Then, Marco, Mother Superior and Pinocchio walked away. Emma, Mary Margaret, David and Henry all hugged and they walked away, along with Gwen, Tamara and Fallon.

None of them knew, not even Neal, that Tamera Green was the one who had tried to kill August. And that she had even more devious plans for the people of Storybrooke.

AN: If you like this story, and you haven't done so yet, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.


	16. Second Star to the Right

Second Star to the Right

It was a pretty quiet morning in the Storybrooke Sheriff's office. Gwen and Tamara were at their desks doing some paperwork. Fallon was out on patrol. David was with Mary Margaret and Leroy checking out the bean field. Emma hadn't come in yet.

Just then the phone rang, "Sheriff's Office," said Gwen, as she answered it. "Hey, David… Yeah, No Emma's not here yet. What's going on … What? Okay… See you in 5 minutes."

"What's up?" asked Tamara.

"Regina found the bean field and burned it to the ground,"

"What?"

"David's going to call Emma and he wants us to meet them at Town Hall in 5 minutes."

"I'll call Fallon," said Tamara, as she picked up her phone.

PGJR

A short time later, David, Emma and Gwen marched into Regina's office at Town Hall with their guns drawn. When they saw that Regina wasn't there Emma called out, "It's okay, She's not here."

Then Henry, Mary Margaret, Tamara and Fallon walked in, "When you find her, you're not gonna hurt her, right?" asked Henry.

"No," said Emma, "We just want the beans she stole from us." He walked over to the security alarm panel on the wall.

"I don't get it," asked Tamara, "Why would Regina leave her office unlocked?"

"Especially when she's keeping the beans here," said David as he walked up to a small circular glass tank where a bean plant was but there were no beans on it

"Was keeping them here," said Mary Margaret, as she joined her husband, "They're gone."

"Something's not right," said Emma, "Regina would never leave evidence like this behind."

"Maybe she already used them to portal out of Storybrooke," said Fallon.

"Without Henry? I don't think so," said Emma.

"What if something bad happened to her?" asked Henry.

"Security system says the last time someone was in the office was around 6:00 this morning," said Emma. She pressed a button and SECURITY OVERRIDE ENABLED appeared on the screen, "They used an override code to get in."

"Why would Regina need an override code on her own alarm?" asked Gwen.

"She wouldn't."

"You think someone else broke in and took the beans?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Well, we haven't found Regina anywhere and haven't heard from her," said Emma.

"So something bad did happen to her," said Henry.

"We're gonna find her, Henry. I promise."

"There's only one person who could overpower Regina," said Fallon, "Gold."

"He's too busy with his new/old girlfriend," said Emma "No, this wasn't Gold. This was Tamera Green." Emma had found Tamera Green with a list of people in Storybrooke and who they really were. Ever since she found it Emma was convinced that Tamera Green was the 'She' that August was talking about.

"Haven't you already gone down that road?" asked Tamara.

"Maybe not far enough."

"Or, maybe it's time for you to let it go," said Mary Margaret.

"August was attacked the day Tamera Green came to town. I don't think that was a coincidence."

"What if you're wrong?" asked Gwen, "If Regina's in trouble, we can't just drop everything else because of a hunch."

"Which is why we're not gonna drop everything else. You guys, go see Gold. I'm sure he has some kind of magic that can help locate Regina."

"Where are you going?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Back to Tamera Green's room," said Emma.

TUAT

David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamara and Fallon went to Gold's shop. Gold and Lacey, formally known as Belle, were having a drink in the backroom when they walked in, "Sorry to interrupt the party," said David.

"Well, I certainly don't remember inviting you three," said Gold, "We're closed."

"Not to us," said Gwen, "We need your help. Regina's missing and we think she may be in danger."

"Just the way I like her," said Gold, "Now if you'll excuse me…"

"I don't think so," said David, "Whatever your feelings about Regina are, you still owe me a favor."

Mr. Gold looked at Lacey, "Lacey, if you could excuse us, I have some business to attend to."

"Make it quick," she said. Then, she walked out.

Mr. Gold looked through his drawer and cabinet while talking to the three visitors, "I'm sure I can whip up something to find Regina, but tell me, why do the Charmings want to help the Evil Queen?"

"Because I owe her," said Mary Margaret, "after what I did to Cora."

"Never underestimate the power of a guilty conscience," said Gold, as he showed them a small bottle with a clear liquid inside.

"What is that?" asked Tamara

"This is one of Regina's tears."

"Why do you have one of Regina's tears?" asked Gwen

"Because I do," said Gold, "This spell, however, requires two tears."

"You want one from me?" asked Mary Margaret.

"Well, just think of a dark moment, dearie, something bleak and hopeless. I know you have a few." Gold held the bottle to Mary Margaret's cheek. She thought for a moment then a tear fell down her cheek and into the bottle, "Perfect," said Gold, as he swirled it around, "Now, when you drop this into your eye, your will be connected to Regina wherever she is. Whatever she sees, you'll see, whatever she feels, you'll feel," Gold held the bottle out for the Charmings.

"How long does the spell last?" asked David, as he took the bottle.

"Long enough to lead you to her. And with that, I've fulfilled my end of the bargain. Good-bye."

"Always a pleasure," said Fallon, sarcastically. Then, they left.

LG

They went back to the loft and they were sitting at the table. David was holding the bottle, he looked at Mary Margaret and said, "You don't have to do this, you know. You've been through enough already."

"That's exactly why I do have to do it," said Mary Margaret, "My heart has a dark spot because of what I did to Regina. If I can help find her, if we can save her, maybe it'll help that spot get smaller."

David sighed, he stood and used the dropper in the bottle to put a drop his wife's eye. At first there was nothing. Then, Mary Margaret started to groan in pain. She couldn't see much but Regina was strapped down to a table somewhere and she was in tremendous pain. Mary Margaret started to scream and convulse. "MARY MARGARET!" shouted the rest of them shouted.

TUAT

A little while later, David was holding Mary Margaret's head in his hands and stroking the side of her head. "Mary Margaret?" he asked, "Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes and said in a weak whisper, "It was awful. The worst pain I've ever felt. Wherever Regina is, she's powerless. She can't fight back."

"Could you... could you see where she was?" asked Gwen, "Could you see who was keeping her there?"

Mary Margaret put her hand to her head, "I just remember... pain... and screaming."

"Concentrate," said Fallon, "The smallest detail might lead us to her."

Mary Margaret shook her head, "I don't know," she took a couple of deep breaths, "My hands were tied down, and my legs... It was cold and... It smelled weird, like... sardines? I don't know. I wish I could remember more."

LG

Gwen called Emma, while David comforted Mary Margaret, and filled her in on what happened, "So, she didn't see anything?" asked Emma.

"Not much," said Gwen, "She could sense Regina was in pain. It was cold. She was strapped down and she could smell sardines."

"Get down to the docks right now," said Emma.

Gwen hung up the phone and looked at David and Mary Margaret. "What did Emma say?" asked Fallon.

"She wants us to go down to the docks."

"The Docks?" said Mary Margaret, then she got an idea, "The Cannery! They process sardines there."

LG

Gwen, Tamara, Fallon, Mary Margaret and David went in the Cannery. They started to look around for Regina. Then, they heard footsteps coming quickly toward them. David pulled his gun. Gwen, Tamara and Fallon had their Jewels ready and the five of them ran around a corner and saw Emma, who had her gun drawn, and Neal. Everyone lowered their weapons and Emma said, "What the hell, guys?

"Here," said David, as he handed Emma a Walkie-Talkie, "so that doesn't happen again."

Emma took it and said, "You guys take the basement, we'll search the main floor. Regina's gotta be here somewhere."

David, Mary Margaret, Gwen, Tamara and Fallon searched the basement and found Greg torturing Regina with an electroshock machine. Gwen shot a blast of magic from her Jewel at the machine and destroyed it, "Don't move!" she said. Greg knocked over the machine and ran out of the room.

David, Gwen, Tamara and Fallon started after him and Mary Margaret went to Regina. She looked very weak. Mary Margaret called out, "David! We can't leave her! She'll die if we don't get her help!"

David and the others walked over and looked at the woman, "We've got to get her to Mother Superior," said David.

David took out the Walkie-Talkie, "Emma? You got to block the exits."

"Already on it. You guys all right?" asked Emma.

"We're fine. We found Regina. But, Mendell, he's coming your way."

LG

They took Regina back to the loft, put her in Mary Margaret and David's bed, called Mother Superior and she came right over. Mother Superior looked over Regina. She saw the black cuff on Regina's wrist and realized it was blocking Regina's magic. Mother Superior took out her wand she waved her wand over the sleeping woman and the cuff disappeared, "Now that the cuff is off, she's gonna be okay, given time and rest. Her magic will return."

Just then Emma returned to the loft, she looked to be in a daze. They walked over to her, "What happened?" asked David. "What is it?"

"Where's Neal?" asked Gwen.

"He's gone. She killed him," said Emma.

David and Emma sat down on the stairs and David said, "Emma. I'm so sorry."

"How... am I gonna tell Henry?" asked Emma.

David sat there wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed his daughter on the side of her head to comfort her.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret and Tamara were tending to Regina. David walked in with Gwen and Fallon as Regina stirred and was surprised to see all of them. She looked at Mary Margaret, "You... you saved me?"

"Yes," said Mary Margaret.

"You really think we'd let you die?" said David, "Despite our differences, we're family."

"Where are they?" asked Regina, as she looked around, "Where are Greg and Tamera Green?"

"They got away," said Fallon.

"So, they still have it."

"Still have what?" asked Tamara.

"The trigger," said Regina.

"A trigger?" asked David.

"That will destroy Storybrooke."

"No," said Mary Margaret.

"I had a fail-safe built into the curse," said Regina.

"Why exactly were you carrying it around?" asked Mary Margaret.

"You were going to kill everyone in Storybrooke." said Gwen.

"I was going to use the beans to take Henry back to the Enchanted Forest," said Regina.

"And in the process, kill all of us!" said Mary Margaret .

"You wanna discuss justification? You were going to abandon me. Or shall we discuss the more pressing issue? Which is that I no longer control the trigger."

 **AN: If you like this story, and you haven't done so yet, Favorite and Follow. Also, give me a Review and let me know what you think of this. It gives me motivation to keep going.**


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